Haigeki
by Xylix
Summary: His friends kidnapped by magical girls, Ranma is pushed beyond his limits to retrieve them.
1. Crash Course

**Author's Forward –** _Okay, some bad new readers, Seven Village Stomp will probably never see another chapter. Sorry, but I'm bored of the story, so that is that._

_However, I also have good news. The first five chapters of Haigeki are already written. That's right, _five, _whole chapters for your reading pleasure. Unfortunately for you, I won't release all those chapters right now. Instead, I'll release a chapter approximately once every two months. The idea here is to create a semi-regular release rate. Hopefully, that will give give me greater time and greater pressure to finish more chapters._

_Which brings me to more good news, this story will likely be completed. I estimate 9-12 chapters, total, to finish the whole thing off. That puts the end in sight, which should prove a strong motivator for me._

**Author's Warning -**_ This story is Ranma-centric but most interaction is between Ranma and original characters. There is also a moderate crossover (and several minor ones), but I don't consider the crossover important enough to put this story in the crossover section._

-oOo-

**Chapter 1: Crash Course**

-oOo-

The hands of the clock ticked away at a grueling pace. Hinako-sensei babbled at the front of the class, selecting students one-by-one. Those unfortunate few were forced to stand and deliver shoddy translations. The rest watched the proceedings with apathy, silently mocking their fellow classmates.

Myself? I drank the scent of plasticized wood, the weight of my head resting upon my right cheek. My eyes were closed, and I dithered at the edge of slumber. I listened, ears attuned to the sound of my name, but not much else.

I wasn't worried. Why would I be? Like most teachers, Hinako picked students seat by seat and row by row. The pattern was utterly predictable. I had learned this drill in elementary school, and had long since counted how many victims remained between me and the firing squad. Eleven. I even had a half scribbled translation wedged between the pages of my textbook. Yeah, there was a pretty good shot my translation was wrong, but I wasn't going to sweat the small details. I had better things to do.

Like sleeping.

One seat to my right sat Akane. She glared at me silently, as though willing me to wake. That was normal. Her presence however, made me twitchy. Akane usually wouldn't try anything in the classroom but, on occasion, that crazed gorilla lost what little self control she had and took a swing at me anyway. I never could tell what set her off either. Made it hard to prepare for.

And, when Akane hits, it hurts.

Now, I _could_ dodge her strikes, make no mistake there. Akane was slow, and she favored wide and heavy over fast and precise. Slipping to the side of her monkey swings was easy, but I didn't dare try.

The problem was, if I let my instincts take over for an instant I'd not only defend, but counter attack. Hitting the tomboy – now _that_ would be a _big _mistake. Akane's dad, Soun, and my Pop would be screaming in my ears for the rest of the week. Little miss '_I'm a martial artist too_', wouldn't react all that well either. For all Akane demanded I _'fight her seriously_', she'd get pissed to all hell if I actually followed through with her request. Girls. Why do they ask for things they don't actually want? Incomprehensible.

And... well... I wasn't exactly a weak fellow, and Akane, she wasn't half as good as she thought she was. It'd be all too easy for me to hurt her pretty seriously. If I did that... then... I'd feel bad.

... Not that I cared about her or anything. I'd feel bad because I'm a nice guy, thats all.

Anyway, I had to suppress my instincts around Akane. Keep her solidly classified under the tag 'normal girl', rather than 'martial artist'. Otherwise, one of these days, I'd make a mistake.

All in all, that left me twitchy. Twitchy and half asleep because, face it, I wasn't going to let the threat of sudden bodily harm stop my napping. A man had to have priorities.

So, there I was, half-asleep, being glared at by an angry Akane, waiting for Hinako to call my name. Seven. Five. Four. Three students until it was my turn to be jeered at my wonderful, supportive classmates. When it got down to two, I lifted my head off my desk and doubled checked my illegible note. Eh? Guess I'd wing it.

One more student.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Just a typical school day at Furinkan High.

The chalkboard split across the middle, the brick behind it crumbling as the wall tilted dangerously forward. Hinako had just enough to to glance over her shoulder before the falling stone swamped her pint-sized form. _Cra-ching!_ The third floor window to my left blew inward, the shards of glass bouncing off each other and the ground with a high pitched tings. Across the room, a second detonation sounded and the hallway wall erupted inward. Plumes of dust obscured everything, the stuffy scent overwhelming the fresh air flowing in from outside.

The whole class was caught in a cascade of chaos.

I had already exploded to my feet and heaved my desk into the path of flying debris. The cheap, wooden construct shielded Akane from a dozen cuts and prevented Daisuke from having his head crushed by a block of reinforced concrete as big as my chest.

Behind me, Ukyou moved. Only a fraction of a second slower than myself, she unsheathed her battle spatula and transformed it into a whirling wall of steel. Projectiles scattered in every direction, batted aside when they met her dome-like defense. Her impregnable fortress left every student in arms reach of her untouched.

But Ukyou wasn't everywhere. Neither was I.

As the wave of destruction settled, I caught glimpse of the results. Yuka on the ground, a thin jagged shard of glass penetrating her left arm. A boy, who's name I had never learned, pinned beneath his desk by a boulder of broken concrete. At the front of the class was Hinako, knocked unconscious by an assault she never saw and never expected.

Stuff this bad, that _wasn't_ normal. But Pop and I, we had spent our share of time on the darker side of society, and I had seen what the word tragedy meant. Only because of that was I able to stop myself from rushing to the aid of my fellow students. I knew where my place was: Here. Fighting. Standing between the untrained and whatever reckless idiot decided this was the proper way to issue a challenge.

Then, as the dust settled, I got my second surprise. The assailants numbered three and all were female. Given the tactics, I had expected big burly men in black body armor waving around assault rifles, though I wouldn't have blinked if it had been a thirty foot tall monster, or a half mad martial artist screaming death threats. Now, reckless assault by a pack of girls wasn't exactly off my normalevent list. I had seen the so called 'fairer' sex get violent too many times to count. But usually the attacking girls didn't work in team, and they definitely didn't come dressed like these ones were.

How could I describe it? Long shiny hair, smooth sleek legs, well formed breasts, and immaculately made up faces. Each girl was an independent beauty, fully qualified to steal the title Miss Furinkan if they challenged for it. The girls were dressed for it too. Ruffled skirts, frills, lace, and high-heels that averaged at least eight centimeters, defined the fashion of choice. The last was an extreme rarity. Let me tell you something, fighting in heels was just as hard as you'd think.

_Yes_, that was experience talking, and _no_, I won't explain.

To cut down on the confusion, I assigned each girl a name. The nearest one, who'd burst in through the window, gained the appellation Lilac. The soft violet color of her clothes, and the bursting petal shape of her skirt and gloves, was reason enough. Carrotcake, I designated the next, due to her orange and brown themed clothing, and, well, because there was a carrot cake like scent in the air, and it seemed to emanate from her. Weird, I know, but true. The last girl, who had burst in through the hall, I named Fencer on account of her thin bladed sword and plated armor.

I glanced at Ukyou. She picked up the hint instantly.

"You're with me, Sugar," Ukyou said nodding to Akane.

Good. That left me free to deal with Lilac and Carrotcake.

Briefly, I studied my two opponents. No stance indicating a style, but that didn't mean much. Lilac had a flower rod, which I assumed was some sort of whacked out weapon - magical, given my luck. They had to have a decent bit of strength to them too. The girls had blown in the walls. Beyond that, my only hint was their auras.

Spiritually, what I felt left me uneasy. It wasn't so much that the girls were super strong: if anything I'd judge them at around Kuno's level. Instead, it was the intensity of their auras, an underlying sharpness reminiscent of Ryouga the moment before he tossed off a perfect shi shi hokodan.

That made me cautious, so I chose to start simple.

I stepped in and swept my leg into a swift round house that hooked up at Lilac's head. She swayed back just out of range, the thin, rubber soles of my slippers brushing her cute nose. I allowed the momentum of my kick to carry me, body swinging, arms reaching down to pluck a desk from the ground. Projectile in hand, I transferred my spin into linear motion, throwing the desk at Carrotcake.

_Whoosh, whoosh!_ The desk tumbled end over end, displacing air as it flew, but before it could hit Carrotcake stumbled, her feet flying out from underneath her, causing her to crash onto her butt. That last second mistake saved Carrotcake, and the desk ricocheted off the broken wall behind her before rolling into another classroom.

I cursed my bad luck and hoped I at least had Carrotcake's attention. I didn't have time for more than that because I was face to face with Lilac.

"Ya know," I said conversationally. While I talked, my hands flashed out in lightning jabs, subtle hooks, and an occasional cross. "Normally, I go easy on girls, but I don't think I'm going to play Mr. Nice Guy after the shit you pulled."

Lilac's flower wand whipped through the air, snapping to intercept my blurring fists blow-for-blow. Her unyielding guard turned aside every strike I made, be it devious or destructive. That set off alarm bells in my head. The number of people who could consistently block my punches, even before my amazon training, had been very small. The fact Lilac could do so, while making it look effortless, put her minimal threat level at 'panda'.

"Surrender, Saotome-san," Lilac commanded, her cute voice undermining any attempt at authority. "When you and the other martial arts girls yield I will contact emergency services on behalf of the wounded."

I answered with a derisive snort. Instead of talking, I allowed my torso to drop. My falling weight dragged my right leg into a rising kick. The act was more defensive than offensive, and successfully changed my silhouette just enough for a dozen orange flashes to streak past overhead. Carrots, each as long as more forearm. The projectiles perforated the ruined walls with ease.

With a great crash, my heavy kick smashed down on the floor. Concrete shattered and the ground sagged into a crater, but I missed Lilac by a mile. She surged into the opening just as I feared, but the attack that followed was painfully inept.

Huh? No way. That couldn't have happened. Even by Akane's clumsy standards, Lilac's strike was amateur. Exposed as I was, she should have delivered a solid blow, instead, I barely had to dodge when she blundered by.

At once, little things that had bothered me coalesced. There was something unnatural about this fight.

Abruptly, I altered my fighting style, cutting my speed in half. I opened with probing blows, intentionally leaving openings. At the same time, I reduced the pressure of my attacks, giving Lilac and Carrotcake plenty of chances to return fire. What followed confirmed my suspicion, and forced me to draw a shocking conclusion. Neither of the two girls knew squat about combat. In fact, they weren't even defending themselves.

Don't get me wrong. Lilac was all but invincible. No matter how I attacked or with what speed, that short flower shaped stick was there to deflect. On the rare occasions Lilac didn't block, she dodged like a petal on the wind. It wasn't just Lilac, either. Carrotcake's defense, though comical, was no less unyielding. Carrotcake flopped, fell, wobbled, stumbled, slipped, and occasionally teetered on the edge of collapse, her arms windmilling in giant spirals. Nevertheless, be it desks or rubble, whatever I threw at Carrotcake missed.

Other clues only served to confirm my theory. If my speed slowed, then Lilac's defensive wand work slowed by equal measure. When I delivered inept strikes, she responded with crude blocks. Impossible as it would seem, my conclusion held, Lilac and Carrotcake weren't relying on skill. They weren't even in control of their own actions.

Magic.

No. Not magic. Not quite magic, anyway. Now that I was aware of it, I sensed the underlying spiritual flows. There was a reaction within Lilac's aura the moment my attack met her spiritual presence. The instant I crossed that invisible line that marked Lilac's space, her arm would jump forward to block, or her body slide to the side in a dodge.

I continued play with Lilac's and Carrotcake's defense, looking for further confirmation. I struck with wide kicks, sloppy punches, and flung debris. Lilac dodged and blocked, an elegant dancer with the illusion of skill. Carrotcake tripped, fell, and otherwise did half as much damage to herself as my attacks would have done if they'd landed. The more I tested their guard the more certain I became. Lilac and Carrotcake were using an aura based technique, or maybe, an aura based magic. Whatever the case, an aura was definitely involved.

And that was all I needed. With grounding on how the girls were defending themselves, new approaches opened up. I decided to start with the simplest. It was fundamental ki physics that battle-auras resisted each other, and the weaker always yielded to the stronger. By that token, if I imposed my aura over their aura, I should be able to distort or even break the technique. I was sure of it. No. I had absolute confidence in it.

"Moko takabisha!" I shouted.

Confidence pooled between my hands and became physical force. I motioned toward Carrotcake and my ki shot out in bullet. The brilliant energy flashed across the room giving only an instant's warning and... missed. The moment the attack left my hand Carrotcake tripped over a stray rock and fell face first onto a broken hunk of the class chalkboard. I couldn't help wincing in sympathy. Carrotcake's defensive technique really sucked.

But Carrotcake's distress was not enough to stay my hand. I hadn't attacked to make Carrotcake fall. No, the moko takabisha served its purposes by shoving a large hole through the middle of Carrotcake aura. If my reasoning was sound, that would leave her briefly vulnerable to a follow up attack. Like say, the _second_ ki blast I ricocheted off the ceiling.

_Boom!_ The second moko takabisha hit Carrotcake dead on and drove her through the floor and into the class below.

I grinned. Not invincible anymore, eh?

The flash of a thin, crystal epee ended my gloating. A quick shift of my foot saved my calf from being torn by the nimble blade. Instead, the tip slipped through my black pants, slicing the fabric and leaving exposed a thin line of red. My new attacker, Fencer, did not relent. With an elegant flourish she whipped the sword upward and across my chest. Too slow this time, as I swayed the slightest bit back cleaning evading the blade's bite.

Fast and ferocious attacks followed proving Fencer had what Lilac and Carrotcake lacked, true skill coupled with the aggression to put it to use. Fencer was also the only girl that was, superficially, dressed for battle. Forest-green plates of steel shielded her body from blows, and her light weapon could not be mistaken in its deadliness.

Favorable comparisons disintegrated after that. Her armor was littered with gaps that exposed creamy skin and the form fitting plates did more to display her curves than protect. Her steel boots, though rugged enough for a foot soldier, were compromised by block-heels. All in all, Fencer more closely resembled a cosplay knight than the actual thing.

As with Lilac and Carrotcake, those facts did nothing to slow Fencer down. I was forced to dance around her rapid strikes and evade with agile movements. It wasn't hard. While Fencer had skill, her swordplay was well short of Kuno's. That difference in ability gave me more than enough spare time to focus on Akane and Ukyou. Both of the girls were on the ground, bleeding, beaten, but alive. They would stay that way too, their wounds were not fatal.

A tense breath escaped me at that realization.

"Lovely pollen assault," Lilac pronounced.

My attention jerked to Lilac, who had just finished an extravagant dance. Her wand glowed before releasing a puff of purple lights. The fuzzy motes sprayed up from the rod's petals, before showering down throughout the room. The first of them had yet to reach me when the spell took hold. In seconds, my nose stuffed up, rashes spread across my skin, and my eyes turned into fountains. I blinked rapidly, fighting a loosing battle against the blur of tears.

This new impairment added to the challenge of the battle. Fencer's thin blade, already near invisible, disappeared entirely. I dodged now by sound and posture, listening the swish of her blade and watching the flex of Fencer's arm. Quietly, I gave a thanks to my father's crazed and brutal sleep fighting sessions. Without them, I would have been skewered a dozen times.

In a shift of priories, I placed the bulk of my attention back on Lilac. The violet dressed girl had extracted herself from melee the moment Fencer joined our fight. Now, instead of wielding her rod as a weapon, she span it in her hands while pirouetting. I figured that meant Lilac had either she had gone insane, or was preparing a second dose of flowery unpleasantness. I placed my bets on the second, and increased my aggression, seeking to push Fencer to the side and draw closer to my ranged opponent.

Fencer, gave little ground, instead I felt her aura shift. With new alacrity she attacked, her epee thrusts gaining lighting speed. The lithe blade was too much for my shifted style, and the tip cut red ribbons across my arms. Annoyed, I relented, and chose defensive tactics instead. That gave me enough time to kick a length of rebar at Lilac and put a temporary stop to her magic.

Then things went from bad to worse. Carrotcake had returned, bursting through the still standing classroom door. There was no denying it, it was time to retreat.

The thought made me sick.

I glanced at Akane, Ukyou, Yuka and the others. I reminded myself that team glamour wanted us to surrender. I reminded myself that the students wouldn't get help while this fight dragged on. I told myself that if I ran, my attackers might follow.

It wasn't easy for me to make myself run away. I couldn't help but counter each of those truths with other worries. What would Pop say, when I told him I fled from a trio of magical girls? How could I face Soun after letting his daughter get kidnapped, _again_? How could I face myself knowing that given enough time and enough experimentation I would have won?

Enough time. That was the crux of the problem. What time I had now was being borrowed from Yuka, who, with every passing second, was pouring her life blood on the floor. Ukyou and Akane were tough girls, they would survive long enough for me to save them. Fighting here wasn't heroic, it was selfish.

So, I swallowed my pride and threw myself through the shattered classroom window. A handful of carrot missiles followed, machine gunning from Carrotcake's open palm. I twisted while plummeting, slithering around the projectiles. The forced dodge ruined my landing. Instead of meeting grass with feet, I crashed shoulder first, transforming my speed and momentum into a tight roll.

The day's rotten luck held. My tumble brought me to a stop at the feet of magical girl number four. This one wore a skirt bodice combination. The bodice was black, embellished with gold trim and the skirt the reverse, gold with black trim. A star-shaped hair clip kept, held back the girl's dark purple locks and added a dose of charming femininity. Oh, and her panties were purple-lace with cute little bows at the sides. Very fetching.

Deep-violet eyes glimmered with amusement when they met my own. I smirked and flipped onto my feet.

"Yo. I don't suppose you're from the local super hero ward and are about to put a stop to this?" I said, making a thumbing motion over my shoulder and toward the school.

Thinking of the school, I allowed my eyes to shift so that I could see into the classroom window. Lilac and Fencer stood upon the room's precipice, watching me like a pair of hawks. Star girl gave a little shake of her head and the two pulled back. Tch. I had hoped they'd forget everyone inside and chase after me.

"I'm afraid not, Saotome-san," Star-girl said, answering the earlier question. "My name is Singing Star Angel Akina and I am recruiting for a very selective group."

"Not interested," I interjected. "Nobody here is interested. But I can think of some people that might be interested in, say, an ambulance. I also just so happen to know which group of jackasses are in need of a pounding for doing the dirty deed."

Akina's ruby lips quirked in a smile. "This isn't an offer you can refuse, Saotome-san. As for the injured, my girls will patch them up before they leave. Civilian casualties are not in anyone's interest."

"Could have fooled me."

My eyes glinted darkly as I contemplated the newest 'magical girl'. Her aura, like that of Lilac, Fencer, and Carrotcake, was sharp. The power behind it however, was on another scale entirely. It wasn't easy, measuring the strength of an opponent's aura, and I didn't have much skill in that arena. Still, after all the fights I'd been in, I had cobbled together a crude measuring stick. I called it the Daisuke-Saffron scale. To put it simply, I nudged people in between spiritual strengths I knew well. Akina was just under Ryouga. The girls before had floated around Kuno.

That alone didn't mean much. Unless the differences in spiritual strength were off by an order of magnitude, skill mattered more than power. But, if Akina had the same defensive aura as the other girls, her strength would prove a serious problem. The only successful attack I had landed so far was by blowing away Carrotcake's aura with my own. A task Akina's greater spiritual strength would make difficult if not impossible.

Which meant I needed a more effective mechanism. I snuck a glance at the school. If Akina was being honest, I wasn't working on any kind of time limit now, so this was a perfect chance to perform some experiments. Gently, I began to probe Akina's aura with my own.

"So, who are you recruiting for?" I asked, mostly to keep Akina talking.

Akina bit. "The Pretty Princess Institute. It is a lovely school for promising young girls, such as yourself."

"Uh huh," I answered. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a man."

Akina wasn't deterred. "We are well aware of your medical condition, Saotome-san."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, I figured that out. Sorry, but this 'Pretty Princess Institute' sounds way to girly for me."

In truth, I was barely listening to a word Akina said. Instead, I was contemplating how best to breech her defense. Raw pressure would be ineffective, Akina's aura was like steel. The yamasenken would be my best bet. That school of techniques practically specialized in highly focused destruction, and was designed to crack fortifications.

Problem was I had sealed the yamasenken for a good reason. Too deadly. I was a martial _artist_. The art to me was just that, an art. If forced to say what practical use my skill had, I'd say it was for protecting not killing. Those weren't mutually exclusive, but I wanted to keep them that way.

Not that it mattered much. While I had seen the yamasenken and understood the principles behind it, I had never found the time to actually train in that school of techniques. So using it would be more an act of desperation than an increase in the seriousness of the fight.

Still, I kept it tagged. Promise to my father or not, I didn't have much else to work with.

"Though it will require some adjustment, I'm sure you'll find yourself in love with the Institute if you give it a chance, Saotome-san." The way Akina smiled was particularly cruel.

I snorted. "Well that's never happening. Tell you what, I've got my own offer. Since you and your institute hasn't done anything permanent yet, I'll be nice. Pack up your bags and walk away and I won't turn you into a human pretzel." I cracked my knuckles in emphasis.

"How brutish," Akina said, though, if anything, she appeared more amused. Then, Akina opened her mouth sang pure, soft notes. _Nen-nen korori yo, Okorori yo._

My brow twitched as her voice sliced its way into my brain. A headache grew, spreading from my temples, and stretching toward the back of my skull. A technique of some sort? Didn't matter, I'd deal with it. I had to if I wanted a chance to test my theories on how to break these girl's guards, and I wouldn't get a better shot than a one-on-one battle. Besides, it was better to figure out how to win now, rather then when I was halfway through the inevitable rescue mission.

I briefly contemplated my approach, and then threw myself at Akina.

My initial tactic was as crude as it gets. Normally, a martial artist strived for efficiency in all things. I abandoned that concept wholesale. Instead of smoothly shifting ki into physical motion, I rammed as much spiritual energy into my limbs as possible. My battle aura roared to life around me, a visible fire of raw force. It spewed from arms, legs, and torso, leaking energy everywhere. To me this was the combat style of a clumsy amateur.

Surrounding by sizzling strength, I dashed in and showering Akina with earth shattering kicks and supersonic punches.

The result was unsatisfying. Akina's aura quaked when my strikes flashed out at her, but remained solid. I was left fighting the wind. Akina flowed around my attacks, always a centimeter or more away. She weaved between my fists, and danced out of range of my feet. Her hands stayed folded behind her back the whole time.

Like Lilac her defense was effortless. But, with Akina, there were also hints of skill beneath the magic of her aura. When I attacked Akina would meet my spirit with her own, dampening my crude attempts to shatter her guard. More than that, Akina's aura would suddenly stretch out in a variety of directions, shifting the flow of her evasions. It was clear that while Akina was a puppet to her technique, she was also the puppet master. Unlike Lilac and Carrotcake, Akina expertly wielded her magic.

It wasn't the skill of a warrior, but Akina's control over her technique separated her from Lilac and Carrotcake in much the way Fencer's combat prowess had.

_Bōya wa yoi ko da, Nenne shina_

The reverberations of Akina's song spread from skull to spine and from there to every bone in my body. The notes Akina sang carried more than sound. Splinters of Akina's aura penetrated mine. Her power seeped inside my flesh carrying with it a weariness. My shoulders sagged. My eyelids grew heavy. My muscles leadened with exhaustion.

Dimly, I realized what kind of song Akina sang and what it meant for her to sing it. A lullaby. A lullaby that was dragging me into the abyss of sleep. With terrible realization I became aware that I was seconds from loosing this fight and it was far too late to run.

Desperation surged. "Kijin Raishu Dan!" I whipped my arm while I shouted. Ki stretched out with the motion, filling the wake left behind.

The crescent of ki was a pale imitation of the Ryu Kumon's deadliest technique. The vacuum flew no more than a meter before it began to dissipate. Akina didn't even need to dodge. Disappointment briefly won over desperation. I had underestimated the difficulty of my father's sealed art. My failure meant the effectiveness of the yamasenken remained untested.

_Bōya no omori wa, Doko e itta?_ Akina never stopped singing, and her voice enclosed me in a mother's embrace. Her song was warm, and irresistible. Darkness crawled at the edges of my vision. Vaguely, I tried to remember what it was I was doing.

Oh yeah. I was losing a fight.

Damn it. I can't lose. I gotta... I...

Gentle hands brushed across my forehead. When had Akina gotten so close? When had I fallen to the ground? My eyes met Akina's gentle gaze and nearly drowned in the kindness reflected. Her lullaby was a whisper now, meant only for my ears. Unwillingly, my eyes slid closed and slumber stole my consciousness.

For a few seconds, anyway.

_Welcome to the Jungle, we've got fun 'n' games. We got everything you want, Honey we know the names._

Rock and roll exploded across the school yard. Thundering drum beats hammered through my chest, punctuated by the sharp tap of metal. Electric strings sang in accompaniment with ear bursting vocals. Akina's tender lullaby was silenced by the roar.

The reverberating noise originated from a beaten white van, whose back doors were flung open revealing two giant speakers. Furinkan's front gate hung loose on its hinges, warped and knocked askew by a massive impact.

Cradled in Akina's lap, I couldn't help but grin. I didn't know the song. I didn't know the lyrics. But right now I was wide awake. The music that blasted out like a rocket taking off had knocked Singing Star Angel Akina's magic straight into the netherworld. Better than that. The barrage of sound distorted Akina's aura, stretching it as thought it were a candle in a hurricane.

Akina, I realized, was defenseless.

Only centimeters from me and with her eyes on the van, Akina never saw what hit her. I seized her bodice with both hands and hauled myself to my feet while throwing the magical girl with every muscle in my body. Akina flew for half a second before slamming into the outer of wall of Furinkan High with enough force to cave reinforced concrete.

I didn't give her a chance to think, much less recover. I tore across the grass and smashed into her with a flying reverse back kick. The blow took Akina in the gut, and sent her tumbling the rest of the way through the wall and into the room beyond. Akina managed to land on her feet, but she tripped a moment later when her high-heels caught on industrial carpeting.

As Akina fell I rose in an arching jump. My right foot brushed the ceiling, as I stretched it up in an enormous axe kick. Then I dropped, all my weight, and all my power concentrating itself into a single blow. This attack, when it landed, would drive Akina's head deep into the pavement.

But, I never touched the ground.

While I was still in midair, Akina blared out a perfect 'A' note. Her tonal screech bent the air with its pressure, forming visible waves. Suspended, I had no way to dodge the sonic blast, and my only guard was hastily folded my arms. The attack was an acoustic tsunami. My descent stopped in an instant, and reversed just as quickly. I shot backward, through the first floor ceiling and then through the outer wall of a second floor classroom.

What little air survived the crushing force of Akina's pressure wave was driven from my lungs by successive concussive impacts. Black encroached into my vision, and deafened ears popped from the overpressure. My only relent was that the building itself was already crumbling when my body struck it. It was a small relief that salvaged little more than consciousness.

I ascended high into the blue sky, content to float while waiting for the spots to stop dancing across my vision. Silently, I cursed my mistake. Stupid, taking Akina into a building where the music was weakest. I should have forced her toward the van where she'd have nowhere to run.

_Welcome to the jungle. It gets worse here everyday_.

My mind snapped into focus when I caught glimpse of a dark shape flying up at me from the ground. I rotated my body, and batted my new attacker's hands to the side. I saw an opening, and shoved a thrust kick into the gap. The blow sent the shadowy figure plunging to the earth, dark cape fluttering around him. I touched down a second later, landing lightly on my feet.

Not far from me, my opponent was prying himself from the ground. I wasn't going to give him that chance. I dashed in and swung a fist at the shadow figure, only to stop half a second later. Attacker number five, I realized, was desperately crossing his hands and shaking his head in a repeated no.

The new guy didn't want to fight.

"Who are you?" I shouted. Or, at least, I thought I shouted. With the pounding of the van's speakers I couldn't hear my own voice.

The new guy pointed at his ears indicating he couldn't hear any better than I could. He was an interesting fellow though. Formal tuxedo, black cape, cane, and top hat, if he had a monocle instead of mask I'd think he was a butler.

Despite his flashy clothes, I decided to give him the temporary title 'ally'. I certainly needed a few.

Tuxedo shouted something at me in return. His yells were the barest drone in the cacophony of the music. I shook my head, and Tuxedo resorted to making stabbing motions with his cane at the white van. I glanced at the vehicle and shook my head again.

Tuxedo apparently decided he had enough of my waiting, so he grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the van. I immediately jerked my hand free and shook my head a third time. Instead, I thrust a finger at him, at me, and then at the third story window that was my classroom. Like hell I was running away. Not with backup, and not when I was just starting to get the hang of how to take these girls down.

Tuxedo glanced up at the window and then back at the van. I could see he was considering it. Whatever plans we might have made ended abruptly when orange streaks shot from Furinkan's second floor and pulverized the speakers.

A long warbling noise followed as the music died. Silence was broken only by the ringing of my ears.

A couple of seconds later a very pissed Akina stomped her way out into the yard. Suddenly, Tuxedo's run the hell away plan looked a lot better.

"Run!" Tuxedo shouted. Despite the lack of music his voice was dulled by the induced deafness.

"Yeah, good idea!" I yelled back.

The two of us dashed into the van. The driver didn't even wait for us to reach it. He already had the vehicle up to at least least fifteen before I hopped into the back. Tuxedo climbed in just behind me. I tensed briefly when a third, much smaller figure flew in through the passenger side window, but relaxed when none of the others reacted.

I glanced at the crew. Aside from Tuxedo and his formal wear fetish, were two more men. The first was the driver. He was a lanky man with untamed dirty-blond hair, wearing a white, button-up shirt and a loose salary man's tie. He didn't look like much, huddled over the steering wheel, but he was at least Kuno on the Daisuke-Saffron scale. So, appearances aside, this was not the typical Tokyo citizen.

Riding shotgun was a short, dark-haired boy, not much older than fourteen. The boy's eyes were flat, soulless, and would have been black-holes if not for the smoldering deep within. I had seen eyes like that in my youth. I'd seen them in the darker corners of China, the back alleys of Hong Kong, and even in Kyoto, in the back alley streets where the yakuza ruled with impunity. They were the eyes of those who'd seen the most vile aspects of humanity and been devoured by it.

Those who had such eyes were capable of anything.

The world titled and wobbled for a moment as the van swung around a tight corner at reckless speeds. The speakers occupying the back with Tuxedo and me crashed about the interior. One rolled against the van's unsecured doors and tumbled out onto the street behind us. I glanced up and double checked that the hand hold I was using was well anchored.

"Thanks," I said after a period of silence.

Tuxedo nodded and closed the van door with his extensible cane. Then, displaying casual control, he properly locked them in place.

"So...," I drawled, "What is this? Magical boys versus magical girls?"

Up front Salary-man laughed and span the van's steering wheel to the left. Tires squealed in protest. "Something like that, yeah," he answered. "Guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Hikaru Nigata, the ki-"

"No names!" the boy hissed.

In the blink of an eye the kid had a wicked sword of ice threatening to puncture Hikaru's neck at multiple points. The hilt of the boy's weapon was a mostly empty plastic bottle. I guessed that was where the water came from, but the boy's technique was so fast I couldn't be sure.

"Careful there brat," Hikaru snapped. "Don't forget I'm the one driving."

The boy didn't blink. "A crash won't kill me."

Tuxedo reached out with his cane and laid it on the boy's arm, gently pushing the sword down and away from Hikaru's neck. Then, Tuxedo faced me directly, doffed his hat and gave a small bow.

"Mamoru Chiba. Since the boy objects we will withhold his name."

Chiba met the boy's glower with a steady gaze. Eventually, the brat relented and his icy blade retreated back into the water bottle. The boy had an edge to him though and I could tell that his 'partners' made sure they were well aware of him at all times. I couldn't blame them. Crazy types like the kid were powder kegs waiting to explode. For all I knew, the brat was seconds away from plunging a brand new ice sword into 'Chiba' the Tuxedo's back.

Hikaru rubbed his neck. "Sorry about that. Not the kind of thing you like to see amongst allies."

I snorted. "Compared to what I'm used to, this is about par." I gave them a short grin. "Guess I should introduce myself too. Ranma Saotome."

"We know," the ice sword brat said.

I bristled at the amount of contempt he drove into those two words. It took all my self control to refrain from retort. Instead, I focused on the important bits. Namely, who the hell was I fighting, and how would I get to the part where I kicked their asses and snatched Akane and Ukyou back.

"Magical boys, magical girls?" I said, putting the conversation back where it started.

"Yeah, that's about right," Salary-man Hikaru answered. "Well. Actually, it's a lot more complicated than that. But, yeah, with some exceptions, that pretty much sums up the battlefield."

If Hikaru was going to say anything more, he lost his chance when he put his energy into making a pair of tight turns within seconds of one another. I winced as a car flashed by far too close to the front windshield.

I glanced, at Chiba and the brat. Neither of them seemed inclined to talk. Great, I had a quiet, stoic type and a broody, angsty type.

"You're in a hurry I take it."

"Well-" _Screeech, _the van squealed as the tires span out. "- Akina can run at about fifty when she puts her mind to it, and is a hell of a-"

_Thud. Whoosh! Slam._ The van shot up over a hill, went airborne for a few seconds, and then landed heavily on the road below. The vehicle's suspension groaned its pain loud and clear.

"-lot more mobile than us. So, it's fast or fight."

I glanced back at the destroyed speaker. "And your secret anti-magical girl weapon is all banged up."

Hikaru shot a grin back at me. I cringed, because that meant his eyes had left the road.

"Nah, not anti-magical girl, anti-Akina. We're just lucky it was her that showed up. Her megami no ooi centers on her singing. So, turn up the rock 'n roll, the heavier the better, and her magic goes straight to shit."

After watching the horror show for a few seconds longer, I sat down so that I wouldn't be able to see out the front windshield anymore. Like the dark-haired brat, a car crash wouldn't kill me. The constant anticipation of a sudden stop, little glass knives slicing me apart while I flew through the front window, followed by my skin being sheered off by the friction of impact, that, on the other hand, might well have done the job.

"Yeah," I said, continuing the conversation. "I saw that. Whatever wacky defense those magical girls have, those speakers blew it clear away. Got any other tricks like that?"

"Ha. A few. But, when it comes to fighting magical girl, the only thing you can count on is a magic weapon and greater spiritual force."

I snorted. I didn't need the kind of non-answer that only told me what I already knew. "I already figured out that much. So, don't hold out on me, what tricks have you got?"

There was silence for a while, and Hikaru spared a questioning look back at me. I could tell that he was hesitating. No doubt he knew exactly what I wanted the information for. Obviously, he didn't like what I was thinking either, because he was considering the merits of keeping quiet. That pissed me off, and I didn't make any effort to keep my displeasure from showing on my face.

Eventually, Hikaru must have decided I was going to fight this 'Institute' Akina mentioned whether he talked or not.

"It's hard to explain. The first thing you have to know is that all magical girls have theme to their defense. There are lot of common themes, and we refer to those as defense types."

I frowned, and thought back to the fight. Between Lilac, Akina, and Fencer I couldn't think of anything particularly different about their defense. Carrotcake however, clearly stood out from the bunch. Her ridiculous stumble dodges and protective face faults had no similarity to the smooth, skillful looking styles used by the other girls. It occurred to me that maybe my sample size was too small. With only four girls, the types might not be obvious.

"What do you exactly do you mean by type?"

It took a moment for Hikaru to answer, and during that time the van slowed. We no longer flew through Tokyo traffic as though we were in a demented Hollywood chase scene. Instead, Hikaru began to drive like a sane man. Which meant, amongst other things, going the speed limit, stopping at lights, and not making sudden and somewhat random turns. I guessed we shook Akina, assuming she had bothered chasing us in the first place.

"Well. Take Akina. She is an 'elegance' type. You can usually identify elegance types because they skillfully dodge and parry pretty much everything you throw at them. I suppose it'd be easier to understand if you knew the other basic types. Elegance, lucky, and barrier type defenses are the most common, but don't get stuck on the idea it has to be that way. Some girls have defense types that are just plain weird. Other girls can intentionally alter their defense type to better handle some attacks. Especially nasty are girls that have learned to use their defensive aura's aggressively. A particularly nasty piece of work is Chiyo Mori's 'Jinx'."

I leaned my head back against the van's chassis and gathered my thoughts. "Guess that'd make Carrotcake 'lucky', though it looked more like 'clutz' to me. Always stumbling out of the way of attacks."

I had defeated Carrotcake by using two ki blasts, the first to rupture her aura, the second to deliver the damage. That method had worked and proved that a magical girl's defensive aura could be crushed by greater spiritual force.

However, now that I knew Carrotcake's stumbling was a _rule_ embodied in her defense, it was easy to see how I could have defeated her without making such a large effort. A series of light attacks to force Carrotcake's defense to place her into an impossible position and then- Bam! Checkmate.

"Let me guess, the trick to defeating an elegance type defense is use attacks that cannot be blocked or dodged." I said. My mind was now whirling with possible tactics. "Heh. Pity I fought Lilac in a classroom full of students, otherwise I could have dropped the ceiling on her."

My face went grim. I hoped the boy and Yuka were okay. I didn't know Akane's friend very well, but Yuka didn't deserve what happened to her.

"For elegance types, I like shotguns personally," Hikaru said, "A sawed-off shotgun, with paint pellet filled shells. That's enough to mess up weaker magical girls."

"Paint pellets?" I say disbelievingly. I also wasn't sure where anyone could get a shotgun in in this country. Firearms weren't legal in Japan, and the government actually did a decent job of keeping them off the streets. Any gun was hard to find, even one that fired paint pellets.

"Yeah, paint pellets. Screws up th...," Hikaru suddenly stopped talking and shook his head. "Ugh. I'll explain it from the beginning. Magical girls, you see, derive their magic from their aspect of beauty. The PPI's official name for the technique is megami no ooi."

My brain suddenly ceased functioning. "What?"

Hikaru grinned back at me before returning his eyes to the road. He honked at the car in front of him a few times. "Out of the way, asshole! Uh, where was I? Yeah. Crazy shit isn't it? Girls running around powering their techniques with beauty of all things."

"Actually, no," I answered. Now that I had a second to think about it the idea didn't sound so far fetched. "I power my ki-blast with pride, and know a guy who does the same with depression. So ki-like techniques fueled by beauty really aren't that surprising." I paused and pondered. "It doesn't seem very practical though. Beyond being forced to fight in high-heels and frou frou skirts, there's the sweat, blood, bruises and go with it. Combat isn't exactly a pretty thing."

But, even as I said that, relevant facts were flashing through my mind. Carrotcake had no problem stumbling all over the ground. For that matter, even after I had pounded Akina straight through a wall there hadn't been a speck of dust on her. There was an error in my thinking. These girls had something that prevented them from getting dirty...

... something that prevented...

Prevented.

Repelled.

Forbade.

I had a sudden sick understanding of the true nature of magical girl powers.

"Its a corruption of priest techniques," I said, murmured. "Instead of using the perfection of spirit, magical girls use a perfection of body. That gives them the ability to use kinzu to purify or seal evil. Though, in this case it wouldn't actually purify evil. Probably purifies ugliness instead."

Hikaru gave a whistle. "Wow, got it in one. I can see why people call you a genius martial artist. One gotcha though, the PPI's official name for the magical girl's kinzu is haigeki. Also, magical girls make heavy use of haigeki's opposite, shuken. Shuken, in case you're wondering, is the power to impose rather than reject."

I smirked and puffed my chest a little. Yeah, I might be a bit narcissistic, but what's it to ya?

Hikaru kept talking. "The real kicker though is what a comes next. Once a magical girl has formed a nice and solid megami no ooi, the girl turns her powers of purification on herself. Basically, the girl uses haigeki to seal and destroy everything about themselves that's imperfect. At the same time they use shuken to fill in the gaps, and transform whatever remains."

I looked at Hikaru as if he was crazy. I knew enough about priest techniques to know that forceful self purification was a great way to die. Everyone had imperfections, and getting rid of an imperfect liver didn't make biology happy.

"It's insane, I know, but it works. If the girl does it right, and has sufficient spiritual strength, she crosses a threshold and enters a self-sustaining state where her megami no ooi is always perfect. The official name for this technique is 'tenki', but pretty much everyone knows it by the more popular term 'henshin'."

Hikaru, I realized, was serious. The implications of tenki also matched my impressions. As I had suspected, the sharpness of the girls' auras was due to a sort of spiritual perfection. In terms of combat power that made magical girls extremely dangerous.

That was something I knew well. I had experience the amplification a perfect aura gave before. Ryouga's _perfect_ shi shi hokodan. The gap between that technique and my own moko takabisha was enormous. 'Force multiplier' was too weak a description.

And that was were things started getting scary. Unlike pigboy, tenki meant magical girls didn't require special conditions to use _perfect_ techniques. For that matter, I had better assume that magical girls wouldn't bother with techniques not based on their megami no ooi. Why would they?

But, that was just scratching the surface. More I thought about it, the more absurdly unfair magical girl powers became. Case and point, I knew magical girls stayed clean, and now I knew why. Magical girls stayed clean because their aura's were in a self-sustaining state of self-purification.

What that implied required a bit of mind bending. Magical girl powers were based on priest techniques, and priest techniques were based on the concept of augmenting or manipulating law. Evil was sealed by empowering the natural universe so as to deny supernatural creature its magic. It was the ultimate cheap trick, and gave humans an upper hand over demons. Effectively, priest techniques allowed a priest to say _'oh, a fireball, well, real life things can't create fireballs so from hence forth, neither can you', _or in the more common case, '_sorry, ghosts can't exist, goodbye.'_

Magical girl techniques, however, weren't priest techniques but a corruption there of. Given what I had seen, they rejected reality and imposed fantasy, the direct reverse of true priest techniques. Functionally, that meant a magical girl was bending the laws of the universe to suite her desires.

And what did all that mean? Well, for one, in a magical girl's world anything that didn't fit with their megami no ooi didn't belong. That meant things like getting dirty, or sweating didn't merely not occur, but were rendered impossible. More dramatic, a magical girl wouldn't bruise, bleed, or break bones, and that was assuming the girl's shuken imposed laws even allowed the possibility of being hit in the first place.

This invulnerability? It was an power founded on a _perfect_ aura. And it wasn't even a technique. No, a magical girl's a magical girl's invincibility was a side effect.

In essence, I was fighting girls who were playing 'real life' with the equivalent of a god mode cheat. Ryouga, suck it up, because your bakusai tenketsu induced toughness was now, officially, a joke.

Of course, magical girls weren't actually invincible. I proved that when I smashed Carrotcake through the floor. In the end, their law was a law imposed by their aura, and that meant there was a number of obvious ways around it.

To list a few, if I destroyed the magical girl's aura, I would break her defense. Similarly, if I could forcefully end a girl's tenki, the defense would vanish with it. Magical weapons could be effective. Well, not all magical weapons. Only weapons that had the power to resist a magical girl's shuken, or better yet, magic weapons that imposed their _own _law would work.

That wasn't the end either. A magical girl's magic bent the universe's law, and the universe would resist that power. All in all, the universe was much bigger and badder than any magical girl could ever hope to be. That was probably the why girls had defense types. Types served as logical reasons a magical girl was invincible, and thereby stayed some fraction of the universe's infinite power. Whatever the reason, the existence of defense types meant that a magical girl's defense could be turned on itself. Just as importantly, the more a magical girl had to bend reality to stay unharmed, the more of energy a girl would consume.

As a final tactic, I could fight fire with fire, and either create my own law, or aid the universe in imposing its law by using priest style techniques myself.

So, no, magical girls weren't invincible. Far from it. Yet, not a single approach I had thought of countered the fact that these girls got a serious defense upgrade, for free.

"That sucks," I said, summing up the grand totality of my thoughts.

"Then you understand," The ice sword-wielding brat said. "You're useless. All you have is your martial arts and they can't do anything against a magical girl."

"Who's useless," I snapped back. The kid really irked me. "Now that I've got an idea how their powers work, I've got a pretty good shot of getting around it."

Or, at least I _would_ have an idea, once I had the time to think of one. Knowing how a magical girl's power worked gave me a place to start, but that was it. Currently, I was left with the crudest of methods, destroy the girl's aura. For a real weak girl like Carrotcake that wasn't implausible. All I'd need to do was get up close and ram my aura down her throat. My fighting spirit would shove Carrotcake's megami no ooi to the side leaving her defenseless. Easy pickings.

Most of my other prospects were bad. Destroying the tenki or turning the defense on itself was too unreliable. I had no talent for priest techniques, and I didn't have a magical weapon...

... or did I? A smile began to creep across my lips. If I used my ki right I could potentially sheath myself in an aura that would resist a magical girl's imposed law. The yamasenken even had some nice starting places.

"Fool," the brat said.

I ignored the brat, but Hikaru spoke up instead.

"Hey now! Didn't your mo-"

Hikaru's words cut off when a pole of ice shot through his head. Correction, where Hikaru's head _had been_. In the barest fraction of a second, the salary man shifted to the side and evaded the impromptu assassination attempt.

"Don't talk about my mother!"

Yep, the brat was completely nuts. One glance at the kid's insanity filled eyes confirmed it, as if the spear of ice penetrating the now cobwebbed driver's side window wasn't clue enough.

"Damn it, Fumio! Get ahold of yourself."

"I told you, no names!"

As Fumio, the brat, yelled at the top of his lungs, his water-bottle ice spear morphed into another nasty looking sword. I leapt forward to put a stop the kid's tantrum, but Chiba beat me to the punch. The quiet, tuxedo wearing gentleman skewered Fumio's water-bottle with a crimson rose and shoved his black cane against the boy's neck halting further aggression.

Fumio's eyes though, _raged_.

"Control yourself," Chiba's words were firm, but not threatening. "Hikaru wasn't trying to insult your mother."

"I told him, _no names_. We can't trust that _thing_."

The brat's words pissed me off, but I managed to not say anything. The situation was delicate enough without shoving myself into it. Yeah, that's me, foot-in-the-mouth Ranma Saotome thinking that. What? Think I couldn't learn at least a _little_ control after living with Akane for two years?

Yeesh.

Besides, there _was_ something more important that needed to be said.

"Hikaru. The road."

Hikaru's eyes jerked from Fumio and back to the street. We were near the docks and in a seedier part of town. The buildings around here were only aged, concrete real estate and rundown warehouses. So, traffic was real light. It was impossible though, to miss the red-corvette parked in the middle of the intersection. That and the tall blond wearing only high-heels and a silver bikini who stood in front of the same corvette while carrying a giant chrome bulk on her shoulder.

"Shit!" Hikaru shouted. "Everyone out!"

Hikaru threw the van into a hard right. The tires screamed in brief protest before the vehicle began to roll. As the insides tossed about themselves I flew out that back doors of the van, riding Tuxedo's coattails. I escaped not a second too soon because just as I jumped into the air a lance of light appeared beneath me, ripping clean through the tumbling van.

_Ka-BOOM!_

Yeah. It was one of those days.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia**

**_Akina's Song_: **The song Akina sings is 'The Edo Lullaby'. I thought about using the English translation, the wikipedia provides it, but lullabies are, almost without exception, stupid songs. I decided I'd rather have readers skipping over the words glazed eyed, knowing what they are standing in for, rather than actually thinking about the lyrics and trying to figure out how they apply to the situation at hand.

**_Welcome To The Jungle_**: Song by Guns n' Roses, released on Appetite for Destruction.

**Techniques:**

List of techniques mentioned or appearing. Common Ranma ½ techniques are not included. All martial arts / ki / ki-like techniques are in (crappy) Japanese. Most magical girl powers are in English.

_**Lovely pollen assault**_ – Magical girl power wielded by Lilac. Once cast it fills a wide area with allergenic pollen that only effects the desired targets. Symptoms of the spell include puffy, watery eyes, stuffed nose, coughing, and irritation of all exposed skin. This technique _never_ produces a deadly allergic reaction.

_**Kinzu** - [Lit. To Forbid or Suppress]_ - A priest technique that uses ki derived from an aura of purity, typically used to seal or destroy otherworldly beings.

**_Haigeki_**_ [lit. To Reject, To Denounce]_ – A variant of kinzu. Haigeki rejects or seals the ugliness of reality, as defined by user's _megami no ooi_.

_**Shuken** [Lit. Dominion, Supremacy] – _ The mystical inverse of haigeki. Shuken imposes fantasy over reality in a manner that resonates with the user's _megami no ooi_.

_**Megami no Ooi** [Lit. Mantle of the Goddess]_ – A mystic aura representing an aspect of beauty. This aura is the foundation of all magical girl powers. There are many variations of the megami no ooi, just as there are many faces to beauty. This aura serves a similar purpose to magical girl powers as does confidence and depression for Ranma's and Ryouga's ki attacks. The nature of a magical girl's megami no ooi also influences the kind of powers that magical girl has and may develop.

While a magical girl powers are inherently derived from the megami no ooi, skillful control can allow the production of powers well beyond those defined by the aura itself. However, due to the auric foundations, powers diametrically opposed to the megami no ooi can never be produced.

_**Tenki** [Lit. Turning Point]_ – By turning the haigeki and shuken one's self it is possible to force spiritual and even physical transformation. By doing this the megami no ooi is forced into an artificial 'perfect' state and any power or action that would disrupt the megami no ooi is actively rejected. In essence, entering the _tenki_ makes a magical girl's power much more intense, stable, and consistent. As such, tenki is the primary goal of anyone wishing to wield magical girl powers.

While priest techniques also have self-purification, it is much easier to achieve a _tenki_-like effect through magical girl techniques. This is because haigeki and shuken are centered around the fantasy of perfect beauty, whereas true priest techniques focus on the love and understanding of the universe as it is.

Tenki is sometimes referred to as 'henshin' because achieving tenki typically results in corresponding physical transformation. However, physical transformation is not a guaranteed result of tenki, whereas spiritual transformation is.

The formation and appearance of a girl's tenki transformation can shift with time, maturity, and as a girl gains new or greater powers. However, tenki becomes less mutable the more often it is used. The PPI refers to this as spiritual crystallisation.

When returning from tenki there are side effects, some of which may be physically harmful. Death or severe injury are common results if the magical girl is unsuited for the attempted tenki, and/or is attempting tenki without sufficient mystical protections. However, all survivable tenkis bring the user physically and spiritually closer to the tenki state. Over very long periods of use, a tenki user achieves a permanent tenki, at which point the natural state and the tenki state become synonymous.


	2. Dusk

**Author's Forward**_** –** There were a few questions about my one chapter every two months release schedule. Sorry, but I'm sticking to it. The two months release rate was chosen because it was a time period I felt I could keep up with. I will reconsider this stance when the last chapter is in draft state, but not a minute sooner._

**Author's Warning**_** -** This story is Ranma-centric but most interaction is between Ranma and original characters. There is also a moderate crossover (and several minor ones), but I don't consider the crossover important enough to put this story in the crossover section._

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

_Hikaru threw the van into a hard right. The tires screamed in brief protest before the vehicle began to roll. As the insides tossed about themselves I flew out the back doors of the van, riding Tuxedo's coattails. I escaped not a second too soon because just as I jumped into the air a lance of light appeared beneath me, ripping clean through the tumbling van._

_Ka-BOOM! _

-oOo-

**Chapter 2: Dusk**

-oOo-

The van tumbled end over end, and torn hunks of metal flew across the street. The gas tank ignited, exploding into a rather neat fireball. One of the van's tires came loose. The flaming rubber bounced high and then vanished behind the smoke of the burning vehicle.

I was glad to see that Hikaru and Fumio had made it out. The two wasted no timing, diving for separate alleys, all the while keeping their profiles low. Chiba, or Tuxedo as I think of him, was busy landing on the road next to me. I didn't need him to tell me to seek cover. The newest magical girl made that quite apparent when she blindly fired multiple laser pulses through the smoke and debris.

"Get to the roofs," Tuxedo advised.

Without hesitation, Tuxedo jumped to the top of the warehouse next to us, rising two stories in a single bound. I followed reluctantly. The roofs were a double edged sword. In this part of Tokyo, every building was roughly the same height. That meant there was nothing to break my line of sight. In fact, I could spot the dark shadows of Hikaru and Fumio fleeing in their own directions.

I wasted no time making my worry apparent. "We're really exposed up here, ya know."

Tuxedo glanced at me. "Michiko cannot jump to this height."

That made me pause. "Really?"

Tuxedo's eyes flashed toward me, and then his hand whipped out sending a trio of roses streaking through the air. A pair of silver dishes, about twenty meters distant, swiveled around the attacks. Even as the disks dodged a terrible glow grew at their tips. I didn't need to guess what that meant, and I figured that now would be a great time to start moving. My instinct was confirmed when a beam of light pierced my afterimage and dug a shallow trench in the rooftop.

"I'll deal with them. You keep running," Tuxedo said.

I shook my head, and danced out of the way of a few more strikes. "I can handle myself."

It was a good thing the mini-UFOs were bad at adjusting their aim, because if they could keep up with my movements I would have been down after the first shot. I'm fast, but I'm not faster than light. As it was, I found myself facing a number of close calls.

Worse, the disks retreated into the air the moment I tried to chase them down. I could leap up after them, but even thinking about it gave me a bad feeling. For all that the Saotome branch of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu declared itself to be an aerial art, I couldn't fly. That meant my maneuverability once off the ground was limited. That wasn't a disadvantage I'd be wise to impose on myself when my only defense was to dodge the enemy's aim.

"Retreat," Tuxedo repeated. "You lack the necessary long range attacks."

I winced, and angrily shot a blast of ki at the closest disk. The range was terrible, and I didn't for a second believe the attack would actually hit. That probably explained why the bolt was a pathetic thing the size of a small bird. I scanned about for something to throw, but the roof was irritatingly devoid of weapons of opportunity.

"Fine," I relented. "We'll meet up later then."

With one last look back, I dashed away from the tuxedo wearing warrior. Tuxedo didn't seem to have much problem dodging the UFOs' attacks, and his cane was more than capable of deflecting beams of light. I'm not sure exactly how that worked, but from the way the man's aura was flowing, he had something similar to magical girl powers on his side.

I kept my eyes on the disks for a few minutes longer, until they vanished into the distance. I had to duck once when I saw a red corvette. Thankfully, magical girls don't seem to have any special senses, because 'Michiko' the silver-suited beach babe didn't so much as bat an eyelash at me when she shot by.

I traveled for about half-an-hour without further incident before it really occurred to me that I had no way of catching up to my earlier saviors. Left at loose ends, I amused myself by roof hopping across the increasingly large buildings of down-town Tokyo. There's a real thrill when jumping across six lanes of road ten stories below. Though, I had to admit that I would quickly find the constant climbing annoying if I made a habit of traveling by roof in this part of the city. The stupid civil engineers apparently didn't have the decency of requiring all the sky scrapers to be the same size. Yeesh. Making life hard on martial artists. What were they thinking?

I didn't waste all my time having fun. I thought, and I planned. How would I attack a magical girl? The weaker ones I figured I had solved, but Michiko's disks brought up a new problem. What would I do in a ranged fight? Then, of course, were girls like Akina who had non-negligible spiritual strength.

Most of my standard techniques didn't work. Hiryu shoten ha was pretty much out: megami no ooi wasn't the kind of technique that led to hot auras, and four of the five magical girls I'd run into so far preferred ranged combat.

Now, moko takabisha was actually pretty useful against magical girls. The attack was ranged, and had an intense ki presence that distorted the protective aura of my opponents. Unfortunately, as ki attacks went, the moko takabisha was terrible. Confidence was something I only had when fighting enemies at or below my level, and even that drained when a battle turned against me.

The other end of the spectrum was even worse. I would never have the emotional nature or the mindset to use shi shi hokodan, even though it was a much better technique. It took me several days trying to master the shi shi hokodan before I realized it, but I actually was a pretty happy guy, and that was despite the fact it would be practically impossible for my life to be any more screwed up.

That left me with theories and dregs. Pop's favorite fall backs - the crouch of the wild tiger, the howl of the demon dog, and the Saotome final attack - were barely worth mentioning. Following right behind was my old, experimental 'wandering spirit' ki-blast. I liked that technique. I never could make it battle ready though. Pity, because it suited me even better than the moko takabisha.

The real points of potential were the yamasenken, the umisenken, and my faded memories of Herb's ki manipulation. The yamasenken I'd never trained in, but my understanding was deep enough to duplicate the techniques given sufficient time. The umisenken I had more experience with, but while it was the stronger school, it lacked offensive ki techniques. Herb's magic, and ki wielded at his level of mastery deserved that title, was beyond me.

I decided a place to start: the dokuja tanketsu sho. The dokuja tanketsu sho was one of the yamasenken's deadlier attacks and involved coating the hand in ki to give it increased penetrating power. I could play with that, reduce the destructive potential while increasing the spiritual aspects. I pondered some theories and spent half an hour trying to layer my hands in thick auras. Once I managed to do that I moved onto the next part of my training.

Climbing.

Specifically, I picked the tallest building I could find and scaled it. Not the normal way, either. Instead, I repeatedly gathered my ki around my hands and drove them into the concrete exterior of the tower. It wasn't the nicest thing to do, and I doubt the civil authorities of Tokyo were going to send me letters of appreciation, but I needed something nice and strong to practice on. It was simple, really, there were big buildings here but no big boulders, so I trained with big buildings.

Certainly my choice had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to climb a skyscraper. Nope. That didn't effect my decision at all.

I rationalized the remaining guilt away by reminding myself of Furinkan. Yuka, bleeding on the floor. That boy, pinned beneath concrete. If my training let me stop something like that, even once, I would more than cover my civil dues.

Step by step, hand thrust by hand thrust, I ascended. After about twenty stories I began training my feet as well. With short kicks my toes penetrated man made rock, giving me increased grip and accelerating my progress. Even with that the going was slow. It took another half hour to reach the top of the skyscraper, by which time I was feeling pretty comfortable with the technique.

So, instead of rushing off for more training, I relaxed and enjoyed the view from my enormous height. I gazed across the city, and amused myself by staring down at the little cars far below. There was something intriguing about being so high. From here a fall could cause me injury, a rarity even when I was roof hopping. If I plunged here, the velocity of my fall would be enough to crack bone, but, like a two story drop for a normal mortal, only by landing horribly wrong could the fall prove fatal.

Boredom found me laying on my back, staring up at the great sea of blue. As my worries slipped away, the most serious of my problems hit me. It wasn't my inability to defeat magical girls. No. It was that I didn't have a clue where they had taken Akane and Ukyou. For that matter, why did they want us in the first place? Recruitment is what Lilac said and Akina confirmed.

'Recruitment' was what they had intended for me, as well.

Recruitment for what?

In the group that assaulted Furinkan High there hadn't been a single non-magical girl. So, why would they want Ukyou, Akane, and myself? If my theory of corrupted priest techniques held water, it was possible for the three of us to transform ourselves into magical girls. Not that I'd willingly do such a thing, but for a magical girl group, I supposed that was enough reason for interest. Still, why bother? Surely there were actual magical girls to recruit.

I strained my brain and tried to remember what I knew about magical girls, and realized I didn't know anything. I'd heard mentions about magical girls from my classmates and occasionally they made the evening news, but it wasn't something I paid attention to.

And even if Akina's crew was interested in Akane and Ukyou for their potential, why bother recruiting the unwilling?

Another question followed that, how many girls were working for the Pretty Princess Institute, as Akina had named it? I'd run into five magical girls so far, and I got the distinct impression that I haven't seen anywhere close to the complete set. If the PPI truly was an institute, a few dozen girls wouldn't be out of line. How many of those had been forcefully recruited? Who else was on their shopping list? For that matter, exactly how many girls were hunting me, specifically?

Questions without answers. The only thing I knew was how much I didn't know.

If the Pretty Princess Institute was grabbing people off the street, there were others I needed to worry about. Shampoo was the most obvious candidate. But, if I was willing to give enough leeway even Ryouga, Mousse, and Pop could be at risk. I didn't see why a magical girl group would be interested in guys, but I had seen stranger things. I considered each in turn. Pop I didn't need to worry about - my old man could survive a nuclear holocaust. Ryouga was too dumb to win against Carrotcake, but he was also too lost for anyone to have a prayer of finding him. Shampoo?

Hah! If only I'd be so lucky. If the Pretty Princess Institute grabbed Shampoo I would have the old ghoul on my side. That kind of firepower was a game changer. Same rules applied to Mousse, though I wasn't sure how much of the Cologne's protection that boy actually had.

Not that it mattered much. Even if others were at risk, what was I going to do about it?

Which led to the most important question, what could I do? I could swing back by Furinkan and get grabbed by my hunters, let them take me to their lair. I didn't like that idea. Getting caught sounded too much like losing. Plus, the get captured and then escape tactic could turn sour real quick. There was always that chance that the path to freedom would never open. I had no desire to end up 'recruited', whatever that meant.

I could also keep my eye out for magical girls, drop a girl quick, and pump her for information. Might work, if I didn't run into another Akina equivalent and get a lullabied to oblivion. Of course, even if I grabbed a girl there was no guarantee she'd talk. I wasn't an expert interrogator, I couldn't tell lies from truth, and the idea of beating the stuffing out of a cute, and fragile girl didn't hold any appeal.

All in all, my best bet was to find one of the three guy's I'd been riding with. They knew a lot, and two of them, at least, seemed friendly. Easy, accurate information. Problem was, I didn't have a clue where to start.

Except canvassing the rooftops.

Heh. If I was lucky, Hikaru and crew would be looking for me. If I wasn't, then one of those magical girls would show up sooner or later. Either way, I would get the information I needed. A win-win proposition.

-oOo-

Two hours later, the sun sat a mere hand above the Tokyo skyline. The orange light of the dying day reflecting off the glass buildings towering around me. The hunt left me tired and annoyed, but I finally spied down at Hikaru on the roof of a ten story building. The dirty blond was sitting in a white wicker chair under a frilled umbrella. With him were a pair of girls, sipping tea.

For a second, I wondered if Hikaru had sold his group out, but when I landed on the concrete parapet I realized the truth. Hikaru was glazed eyed, and drugged out of his mind. Though, given he was at a tea party, Hikaru's zombification may have been an entirely natural occurrence. The dirty-blond salary man made no motion to acknowledge my presence, instead he sucked silently on the lollipop hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Sitting at the same table and directly across Hikaru was a young, teenage girl with adorable brown hair held back by cute, candy-cane clips. The brunette was outfitted with a what may have been the most girlish dress I had ever seen. Folds, frills, and ruffles of brilliant white sparkled in the fading sunlight. The dress itself was solid crimson, broken by the delicate shapes embroidered on its surface. She was a vision of sweetness poisoned by the cruel smirk that graced her delicate lips. Her posture conveyed arrogance and the twirling of a red lollipop between the fingers of her right hand was all but a swagger.

The second girl faced me directly, sitting between Hikaru and little miss lollipop. She was dressed in the color counter part of her companion, her dress dark as midnight and decorated by sparse, scarlet ribbons. But her clothes bore not stitch less lace. Long, lustrous locks of ebony hair were entwined with red liquorice. Where the brunette might be called sweet-lolita, the second girl was pure gothic. But, more than the dark attire, the feature that attracted my attention was the gothic-lolita's face. Her aristocratic bone structure reminded me strongly of Kodachi Kuno.

The brown haired girl took a dainty sip from her floral cup. "About time," she said. "As much as I enjoy catching up with Hikaru-kun, I was beginning to think you'd never arrive."

While the brown haired girl spoke, the black dressed gothic-lolita stood. Gloved hands gracefully lifted an elegant pot and refilled the brown haired girl's cup with a steaming amber liquid.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"Crystal Candy Princess Chiyo. That is my magical girl name anyway. Atrocious, isn't it? These days I prefer Chiyo," The brown haired girl gave a devilish smile. "Now, take a seat."

My senses pulsed, and world was hued with a pinkish tint. The beguiling scent of cinnamon candy teased my nostrils, pulling me with its seduction. I lurched forward, first one step and then more. Whirling emotions dulled thought, but the question slipped through. Why? Caught in the cinnamon fog I pondered it, while my feet carried me across the roof.

Ah. I knew. Chiyo must have used some magic to control me.

Isn't that nice.

An echo, faint in a vast cavern of darkness, told me to fight. But why bother? I could sit down and have a nice cup of tea. No need to fight when I could relax and enjoy the company of two beautiful ladies. Yet, as rational as those thoughts were, the annoying insistence that I fight persisted. It was a bug that I couldn't swat.

I indulged that idea for a second. A brief contemplation, to show its error. Why fight? Surely there was nothing I could do against magic. ... Well, come to think of it, since magical girl powers relied on an aura, if I forced my own the magic might break.

Of course, there was no reason for me to try that. I'd just happily drink some tea.

I set a hand on the white wicker chair, and pulled it back. There I paused. Confused, I tried to move, but I couldn't do it. Deep within, part of me was resisting. I frowned. Fine. I'd give it a try then. But just once, and then I'd drink some tea.

Half-heartedly I drew my ki and pushed outward. Chiyo's magic resisted, exerting pressure against my own, but even my weak efforts caused the spell to crack. The world became more orange, the smell of sweets more faint, and my will grew stronger. Again I pushed, this time with all my strength.

Resistance lasted a second, and then snapped entirely. I wobbled while the roof whirled around me. I looked down at the chair, and then snatched my hand back as though burned. I lifted my gaze and met Chiyo's chocolate eyes.

"I'd rather not," I growled.

Amused Chiyo sipped her tea. "You have potential at least. I see why the Director is interested in you. But please, take a seat, or my lovely servant will put you there by force."

"Taking what you want, when you want. All you girls are the same," I gave a smirk filled with false confidence. "What makes you think the outcome is going to be any different?"

Chiyo laughed. It was a sadistic giggle that should have been sweet, but instead conveyed mocking superiority. "Dear, you have no idea of what kind of forces are arrayed against you, do you? Hikaru-kun, didn't you tell her? Or did Michiko interrupt?"

Zombie Hikaru had no answer. I wasn't surprised.

I scowled. Chiyo's disregard added to the beating my pride had taken today. I was tired of backing down, sick of running away, and done with defeat. With sudden resolve, I decided that this time I'd fight to the bitter end.

"I don't really care. It doesn't matter how many girls the Institute you work for has got. Six. Sixty. I'll flatten the lot of you."

Amusement turned scorn and Chiyo's cherubic visage was spoiled by a sneer. Somehow, this did not detract from her beauty, but instead lent an unhallowed aura. "Strong and talented, yet arrogant and stupid. Coming here was a waste of my time." The red lollipop in Chiyo's hand stopped its spin, and the girl made a sharp motion toward me. "Deal with her. I do not wish to hear the ramblings of a fool."

The gothic-lolita rose again from her seat and curtsied to her master. "As you wish, Chiyo-sama."

Then the black dressed girl stepped around the table and I skipped back a few steps to give myself more room to fight. I met her gaze and the gothic-lolita returned a look of pity.

"Ranma-sama, how unfortunate that our fates are entwined in battle. Though we long for each other's embrace, we are so cruelly denied by circumstance. But do not fear, my love. Once I have defeated you for my mistress, I will allow you to ravish me with your animal lust. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho."

I was wrong. The gothic-lolita didn't _resemble_ Kodachi Kuno. She _was_ Kodachi Kuno. There was no mistaking that crazed laugh of hers, nor the twisted delusion that we were in love. I cringed. Kodachi was not on my favorite person list.

A moment later that cringe faded in dismay. Wait this couldn't be Kodachi, could it? Kodachi would never serve as another girl's handmaid.

Brainwashing, then. Chiyo, or the Institute backing her, had brainwashed Kodachi. No. The Institute had done more than merely brainwash Kodachi, because I could feel the same sharpness in Kodachi's aura that I had felt in every magical girl so far. Not that I needed to sense ki to tell that much. Between the gothic-lolita dress and the red-liquorice whip Kodachi was wielding, Kodachi's conversion into magical girlhood was patently obvious.

The Pretty Princess Institute's recruitment drive gained a new, sinister twist. Akane and Ukyou were no longer merely inconvenienced, but in actual peril. I would have to prepare myself for the possibility they would refuse my assistance...

...Okay, in Akane's case, refusing my assistance was pretty much a given. Also, I wasn't too sure that the two wouldn't jump at the chance of becoming magical girls, even without the brainwashing.

The lightning lash of Kodachi's candy whip put my attention where it belonged.

I evaded the low swing with a hop, and then back pedaled to the edge of Kodachi's range. Two lashes followed, the whip cracking on either side of my head when I swayed around them. A wide swing missed, but sliced effortlessly through metal ducts. The severed metal clattered and clanged to the concrete surface.

I eyeballed the distance between us. This wouldn't be an easy fight. Kodachi was an experienced martial artist with a nasty bag of tricks. I wasn't sure how many underhanded tactics Kodachi could put into play outside of rhythmic gymnastics, but I'd better keep on my toes.

Side stepping Kodachi's whip, I decided upon my attack. When she lashed next I snatched her weapon at its most extended length and tugged with all my strength. My sudden tug lifted Kodachi off her feet and into the air. As she flew toward me, Kodachi swung her arm in twisting loops that rippled through the liquorice string. With Kodachi's ki amplified by her magical girl nature, I had no illusions about the force the behind the newest attack. So I abandoned my grip and stepped in, lashing at Kodachi with a side kick.

The gymnast turned gothic-lolita twirled, bouncing off my extended leg with a soft palm. Her evasion didn't give much distance, and placed her above me in height. I used that to my advantage, and struck with a ki-infused fist.

My right hand plowed into Kodachi's hastily formed guard, imparting no injury but ruining her landing. I pursued the stumbling girl, jabbing thrice more with my right before crossing with my left.

Except, at the last moment, I realized my left hand wasn't clenched. I aborted the attack, spinning away. Kodachi reacted to the opening with the lash of her whip. I vaulted over the liquorice ribbon and again retreated out of range. Once there, I tried to move my fingers on my left hand and failed. My left arm from hand to elbow was numb. Kodachi's liquorice whip was poisoned.

Crap. One limb down and the fight had just begun. Wait. Was this a biological poison, or a magical one? The limb was already wrapped in a gauntlet of ki that formed my anti-magical girl technique, but the flesh beneath was not so saturated. With a surge of my life force, I changed that, sending ki roaring through the blood vessels. The huge flow cleansed the intruding magic and numbness gave way to pins and needles.

I maintained the heightened ki flow, reevaluated my plan, and ducked an air conditioning unit. The heavy metal crashed across the concrete, skid several feet, and then bounced over the concrete balcony that marked the edge. Three lashes of Kodachi's whip followed, each swing wide yet sharp. The last dug a shallow groove into the roof's surface before the liquorice ribbon drew back and coiled itself in Kodachi's hand.

The battle fell into a natural pause.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho. As I expected. Your swiftness is the envy of the wind, and your prowess unmatched by all those deemed mortal," Kodachi declared poetically. "But it seems that the power gifted to me by Chiyo-sama exceeds even yours. Fall to your knees and beg from me mercy, Ranma-sama, and for you, my love, I will grant it."

I smirked in return and raised my clenched left fist, letting Kodachi know that I had mastered her poison.

"Beg for mercy?," I scoffed. "The fight has hardly begun."

Kodachi's whip flashed out and I leaned back, barely evading the tip. Then I leaned back further when liquorice stretched to close the distance. Nice try.

The strike left a brief gap in Kodachi's barrage, and I used it to close the distance. Realizing my tactic, Kodachi shifted her attacks to force me back. With a twirl of her hand she turned long strands of red liquorice into a horizontal tornado. The effort was wasted; I lazily skipped over the spiraling loops, keeping my body titled far enough forward that the tall hoops swept over me. At the last instant Kodachi jerked her whip, sending a undulating strike across my body. I countered with a sword arm slash. My ki infused attack severed her whip thirty centimeters from the handle.

I rushed in, stealing the offense. Kodachi backpedaled several steps before reinforcing her defense with a pair entwined liquorice rods. The new weapons gave me pause, then I brute forced through them, keeping my arms covered in a thick aura and my veins roaring with ki to repel Kodachi's magical poison.

Now it was I who dominated the fight. With every kick and every punch, Kodachi gave ground. Yet, her guard did not yield. True skill combined with her magical girl enhanced defenses allowed Kodachi to survive my greater speed and strength.

But that was changing. With each strike I refined my technique, and my blows gained effectiveness. Now when guarding against a heavy kick, Kodachi's arms trembled. Her counters grew rarer, and slower, while my answers faster. I pushed and pushed and pushed. The constant abuse of my ki wore me down quickly. I could feel the leaden weight of weariness spreading from my limbs, but I could taste victory now. Kodachi's aura tore with every attack, this battle was eating her ki faster than mine. I could win this fight through sheer endurance if I had too. Sooner or later Kodachi would find her spiritual energy just short, and when that happened her tenki would collapse leaving her a martial gymnast well below my level.

That, however, wasn't my plan. Every punch, every kick, and every counter attack Kodachi attempted pulled us inevitably to our destination - the roof entry.

There wasn't anything particularly special about the roof entry. It was a small concrete box with a metal door attached. Inside there would be a set stairs that led into the building that we were fighting upon. I didn't care about that. I didn't care about the door either. I cared that the roof entrance was a solid concrete structure perfect for pinning an opponent against. And that was exactly what I did.

Kodachi realized my goal a second too late. With her back pressed up against the concrete she attempted to flip over it, but I moved first. Before Kodachi could jump, I was a meter in the air. A fast but heavy side kick ended Kodachi's flight and sent her back to the ground.

Kodachi replied with a thrust of her liquorice rod, which I batted to the side with the edge of my forearm. The numbness of poison disintegrated into pins and needles instantly. The rush of ki I wielded now was too great.

I had her where I wanted her, close, on the ground and back to the cement. I smirked and named my technique. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken."

My arm, and the shoulder to which it was attached, accelerated to a blur. The full force of the amaguriken was unleashed, and my hand's speed increased impossibly. More than a hundred strikes rained down in the time frame of a second, each punch hooked from different angles, targeting all the vulnerable points of her body.

Kodachi's magical girl defense reacted instantly. Her hands and the liquorice rods within them became lightning, meeting every punch with pinpoint precision, but that defense didn't last long. Each punch I threw was filled with penetrating ki that sliced into Kodachi's aura. By the time the first twenty punches had landed Kodachi's defensive magic had crumbled under weight of the repeated blows. Bereft of magic, Kodachi's movements slowed. The girl still tried, straining her skill and speed to keep up, but the substitution of martial arts prowess for magic wasn't enough.

My fist made it through. Each strike was light, soft punches to the gut, to the face, to the blocking arms and shoulders. Damage accumulated quickly, but the enormous momentum of the repeated attacks was too much. The concrete I'd pinned Kodachi to broke, and without it, she was sent flying into the stairwell and through the wall on the opposite side. Once there she bounced off the ground and then skidded a few meters before rolling head over heels twice again as far.

I walked after her.

Dress torn and shredded, Kodachi stood, leaning heavily on her left leg. "As I would expect from my Ranma-sama," Kodachi said with a ragged breath. "My skills are no match for yours."

I stepped over the rubble of the entryway and stopped well out of Kodachi's range. Her gothic-lolita dress was repairing itself, sheared fabric stitching together. Tenki was still in play. Damn. I'd hoped to win the battle outright.

"I'm not here to fight you, Kodachi," I said. "And I can't think of any reason for you to fight me. So why don't you just sit this out and let Chiyo and me settle this."

"Ranma-sama, how this battle between us pains me. My heart longs for your love. I offer you my lips. Take them, and I will fight no more." Kodachi tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

"I haven't forgotten your poison lipstick, Kodachi."

"You accuse me of treachery?" Kodachi face looked frail, as though the words had broken her heart.

"Yeah," I deadpanned. "I'm accusing you of treachery."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! My darling Ranma-sama has seen through my cunning plan. I expect no less from the man who will be my husband. But, my dear, I must warn you that I've been holding back. Hence forth, I will show the true extent of my power. Raspberry liquorice twist!"

Something moved around my ankles. I looked down to see the severed portion of Kodachi's whip snaking around my legs. The weapon moved with celerity, winding too fast for me to escape. Numbness spread where the candy contacted, and I spent the next moment concentrating on using my ki to fight the paralytic magic.

"Now, Ranma-sama, face my liquorice bit bullets!" Kodachi announced.

Huge halos of twined red liquorice materialized, centered at the tip of Kodachi's raised hand. The candy started to spin and as it did so the lines of liquorice began to break. The twined rings became a disk made of hundreds of liquorice bits. Kodachi lowered her hand and pointed the spinning disk at me.

The disk stretched into a translucent cone and then, with thundering cracks, the bullets exploded out. The liquorice bits tore through the binding ropes, shredding it like swiss cheese.

Ouch! Good thing I wasn't standing there.

In the second it took Kodachi to gather her attack, I Houdini'ed my way free from the confectionery cable. Once unbound, I jumped high in the air, my battle aura a blaze of blue flame. Kodachi was not oblivious to my movement, and unhesitatingly swept her arm towards me, bringing with it an invisible stream of candy death.

Undulating dodges would not save me here, so I pulled my immense aura into a single point and expelled a ki blast to my aft. The release of supernatural momentum flung me forward and down, while Kodachi's aim swept up and over. With my remaining aura, I stole a page form Herb's book, reflecting a second ki blast off the damaged roof and straight into Kodachi's gut.

The blast flung Kodachi off her feet and into the air. Her gun arm swung, and the remaining liquorice munitions perforated the rooftop. Kodachi hit the ground hard, barely stable on her feet. Still, her guard remained solid enough to meet my roundhouse with a hastily raised forearm. It was enough to defend Kodachi from the kick, but not to save her entirely. Her defending arm twisted, and I bowled her over with my strength sending Kodachi tumbling across the ground like a rag doll.

On the ground, Kodachi's aura shot black sparks, her spiritual presence wobbled in odd shapes. Instantly, I realized that Kodachi's megami no ooi was nearly broken. She was at her limit, and I was going to capitalize on that fact.

With Kodachi down, I stood above her and stomp kicked her face. Kodachi shielded herself with crossed arms, but I didn't relent. I repeated my attack again and again, following her when she rolled out to the way, and kicking Kodachi down again when she tried rising to her feet. Slowly her guard gave, until the heel of my shoe pressed her nose when it came down.

That was when the roof caved beneath me.

I blinked and coughed, and took a few moments to readjust my senses to the new environment. Cold water rained down from a broken pipe above, dribbling on my head. Great hunks of rubble surrounded me, concrete chunks from the collapsed roof. Most importantly, Kodachi had not fallen with me. The jagged edge of the break stopped where she'd been laying, but extended far behind where I once stood.

The fall didn't hurt, but never-the-less I didn't throw myself back up into the fight. Instead I relaxed, looking back at the faces of men and women that peered over the top of their cubicals. Normal folk, dressed in suites and ties, who would never have imagined that their little office world could be shattered by the crazed fighting of martial artists on their rooftop.

I couldn't imagine what it was like in their shoes. I was far too divorced from normality to grasp the perspective of a cubical drone.

I looked up. Kodachi hadn't rejoined the fight, which meant she was still recovering. I could use a breather myself after expending so much ki. At least I had proved my variation of dokuja tanketsu sho functional. I could hurt a magical girl. Not as easily as I'd hoped, but I could do it. I decided to give the technique a name: ikisasu.

I took one more long breath and then stood. With a hop I was back on the roof.

Kodachi was easy to find. She was back on her feet, barely, and using a still unbroken air-conditioning unit as support. Her gothic-lolita dress once more showed heavy damage. This time the dress was not repairing itself. Instead, it was slowly unraveling. I had won.

Kodachi stepped away from her support, her face twisted with anger. She was as mad as hell. "Pigtailed harridan! What have you done with my Ranma-sama!"

Kodachi, crazy as usual.

"I'm standing right here," I explained.

I was in my cursed form, thanks to the cold water. Kodachi hated my female form as much as she loved my male form. Her brother was the exact the opposite. I didn't expect Kodachi to figure out that female Ranma and male Ranma were the same person. Not today. Not ever.

"I see," Kodachi's dark eyes narrowed with evil intent. "You believe you can hide my lover from me. No doubt so that you may seduce him at your leisure. That leaves me with no choice but to torture the information from you. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

I was about to give a retort, but Chiyo spoke up first.

"Kodachi-chan. I thought we had talked about this."

Chiyo didn't sound amused. In fact, she was now walking toward us. That marked the first time she'd bothered leaving her little tea party.

"Mistress. I'll deal with this interloper, and then I will fetch my darling Ranma-sama for you."

"Kodachi-chan, what did I say I would do if you couldn't get over your delusions?" Chiyo asked, voice dribbling sweet venom.

Kodachi's eyes filled with fright and the gothic-lolita took a step back from her mistress. "B-but, I've done everything you asked. I don't understand. Please, mistress. Please."

My eyes alternated between Kodachi and Chiyo. I didn't know what was going on here, but whatever it was I didn't like it one bit.

"Hey," I barked. "Back off."

"I'll deal with you in a minute, dear," Chiyo said fixing me with her devilish smile. Then she turned back to Kodachi. There was the slightest gesture of Chiyo's hand when she said the next. "Cotton candy cocoon."

Gossamer fibers sprang up around Kodachi's feet in a red-dyed tornado. The threads of crystallised sugar swallowed Kodachi whole, enveloping her in the cocoon of cotton candy for which Chiyo's spell was named.

I dove in, intending to pull Kodachi free. My effort failed when, with a blunder, my foot caught a shallow groove sliced into the concrete by Kodachi's whip. The second it took for me to recover from my stumble was enough for Kodachi's form to vanish entirely. In her place was a giant red bundle of fibrous candy.

Chiyo giggled mockingly from behind a discrete hand.

My face was red with embarrassment which quickly turned to anger. I flashed my eyes to Kodachi's prison and decided to focus on the perpetrator instead.

"What did you do to her?" I demanded.

"You could say that I'm purifying her," Chiyo replied. Her eyes gleamed with malice, and she laughed lightly. "Most magical girls believe that's how their power works. But, the truth is, I'm rewriting her existence."

"Mind control," I said with disgust.

"Oh, I'm changing far more than her mind, dear. My cocoon will transform her very nature." Chiyo stroked the candy surface of the cocoon lovingly. "The last time I captured Kodachi with this spell, Lovely Liquorice Kodachi was born. As sweet, loyal, and demented as that girl was, I couldn't stand that hideous laugh a moment longer. I do wonder how she'll turn out this time? Whatever the case, it is certain that only a little of 'Kodachi' will remain."

My eyes narrowed. "I don't give a rat's ass about your excuses. And while there isn't much I like about Kodachi, I'm not about to let you turn her into your toy."

"Turn her into my toy? Aren't you mistaken? I have already turned Kodachi into my toy. Now I'm trading her in for a better one." Chiyo eyes were wide, and her grin maniacal. "As for stopping me, I think its time to erase that ignorance of yours."

The Daisuke-Saffron pegged when Chiyo released her battle aura. Incredible, raw spiritual force spilled forth, as blinding as that of the phoenix king himself. Chiyo's aura was an ocean that swallowed the entire rooftop and then poured over the edges in fine, glowing mist. All around me air and wind screamed with the monstrous power.

My mouth went dry, and I tried to swallow but couldn't. Impossible. Power like this was impossible, beyond human, boundless, deific. How could I fight against this colossal strength? How could I possibly win?

I had won against Saffron.

It was a frail mental defense. An echo of delusional self confidence. Saffron, I didn't need to reminded myself, did not possess a veritable cloak of invulnerability. I was not wielding gekkaja.

Animal instinct screamed at me to run and training demanded that I use the Saotome final attack. Run, every sense, rational and not declared. Run and don't stop. Run and keep running until I had mastered the ikisasu_, _learned the yamasenken and had entire arsenal of techniques developed for the sole purpose of destroying magical girls.

But, how long would I have to run? Days? Weeks? Months? If I ran too long Chiyo would finish her destruction of Kodachi. Akane and Ukyou would be reduced to toy soldiers by the Pretty Princess Institute, a few more mindless minions to buff the ranks of a growing magical girl army.

Part of me said, don't worry about it. Brainwashing, in my experience, was a reversible process. Could I risk that? Could I risk Akane and Ukyou on the chance that they could be fixed? I couldn't.

I wasn't going to gamble Akane and Ukyou's lives.

So, I couldn't run.

No. I _wouldn't_ run.

Determination surged and with it confidence. Not that I needed motivation to fight, to throw myself into the maw of destruction and tear forth victory. To tell the truth, the only reason I needed was the smirk on Chiyo's face.

"I've fought stronger," I said nonchalantly. "Didn't turn out so well for him."

Chiyo gave a disdainful look and vanished. One second she stood across the roof from me, the next she was standing to my left, just barely within my peripheral vision. In the blink of an eye her right hand tore free a candy-cane hair clip, though, the moment the clip left Chiyo's hair it ceased to be clip. Instead, the clip became a mighty, candy-cane battleaxe complete with a gleaming double-bladed edge and pointed hook. Chiyo's wide swing and years of training saved me, causing me sidestep and duck under the diagonal slash.

It was a near thing, and a line of blood running across my cheek and neck proved it. The roof was not so fortunate. A great gorge, as wide as my forearm, had been carved in the concrete, the guts of the building made visible through the rent. An even taller building, separated by a busy highway, took greater damage. Chiyo's swing blasted out the windows, and shredded steel and stone as though her axe were a hundred meters long.

She swung again with her left arm, wielding her second candy-cane clip as another battleaxe. It was a sweeping horizontal cut and I didn't need anyone to tell me that simply being out of range wasn't good enough. I back flipped out of the way and over the distorted air that stretched from her blade. When I landed, I took a few extra steps back so that I could more clearly see Chiyo's follow up strikes.

Not that I was content to just evade. While I retreated I returned fire. With my feet, I scooped up rubble and then kicked the broken debris at the cute girl. Chiyo didn't bother to dodge. It turned it she didn't need to. Instead, Chiyo watched with amusement as each projectile met its fate.

The first, a huge hunk of concrete, was batted to the side when the roof suddenly collapsed and thrust an I-beam into its path. The second, the small metal remains of a sheered duct, was smashed to the ground by a dive bombing crow. The third projectile was dragged to the right by a stiff wind, so that the hand sized rock flashed past Chiyo ear instead of nailing her between the eyes.

I stared in shock.

Chiyo lazily set her left hand candy-cane battleaxe on her shoulder, and jammed the right into the ground. "Stupid girl, I'm luck type, so things like this shouldn't surprise you. Especially with power like mine."

Chiyo paused and popped some gum into her mouth. After about five chews she blew a pink bubble. Unlike normal bubblegum bubbles this one floated away from her, rising in the air as though it were a helium filled balloon.

My muscles remained tense while I watched. I needed a plan. My ikisasu wouldn't be enough when pitted against Chiyo's raw power, and I didn't like the odds of making this an endurance match. That meant I had to over come her defense by using its logic against her.

Luck. How could I defeat luck? For me, chance was an enemy, a foe dominated by skill and preparation. Luck, however, could never be completely vanquished. Legends were filled with great heroes slain by the weak when their fortunes turned.

But luck, by definition, was uncertain. Which meant that her power couldn't block all my attacks, just a percentage of them. I grimaced. It was an idea, but not a particularly useful one. I was having a hard time imagining landing enough strikes on Chiyo to take her down if nine out of ten were automatically deflected by chance. To make matters worse, Chiyo seemed more than capable of fending off the rare attacks that made it through.

"Hikaru gave me the rundown, just hadn't seen anything like that in action before," I said, replying after a long delay. "Magical girls have a special defense and all that. Didn't do Kodachi much good though."

My eyes slid briefly to the red cocoon in which Kodachi was trapped. Deal with her later. The crazy girl wasn't going to thank me for saving her, not with Chiyo holding her leash.

Pop! High above the roof, the pink bubble exploded. Rather than falling in a tiny, thin film, the explosion stretched the broken bubble even larger, so that it formed a sheet that stretched across half sky. Briefly, I worried that it was about to descend on me. Then it became clear that the sheet was only falling at the edges, forming a second gargantuan bubble that devoured the top of the building whole.

"Nowhere left to run now, dear," Chiyo said. "If you surrender immediately, I'll keep your punishment minor."

"I'm not going down without a fight."

Chiyo scoffed, "You faced my toy, Kodachi, and barely won. You have felt my strength, and know what it means, and still you try to fight. I was wrong. You aren't stupid. You're delusional."

Screw analysis. Playing it cautious never won any fights, and certainly wouldn't win this one.

Instead, I threw myself at Chiyo, my battle aura roaring with all the pain and frustration I had faced today. I rained punches down on Chiyo in a whirlwind of attacks. Every strike was fast and light, seeking to overwhelm her guard rather than crush it with raw force.

Chiyo gleefully abandoned her axes and met me fist for fist. She was swiftness and lighting, her hands only a shade slower than my own despite my amazon training. It was easy, at first, to forget Chiyo's magical defenses, because she fought like a warrior not a puppet.

That illusion disintegrated as we traded more blows. Chiyo's strength and speed failed to make up for her lack of skill and finesse. In terms of the mastery of the martial arts, Chiyo was just under Kodachi. It hardly mattered. Every time I gained an advantage, or moved to seize an opening, circumstances intervened. A misstep by Chiyo would salvage her failed dodge. If she was off balance, a strong gust would blow and right her body. At times where my pressure became too much, the roof would crumble between us, causing me to lose a precious fraction of the second.

Still we fought. Blow after blow our attacks met each others guards, but never made it passed. The exchange though, was far from fair. Bruises covered my arms where I'd deflected Chiyo's brutal fists. Her strength was simply incredible. I felt as though I were facing down the charge of Pantyhose Tarou in his full cursed glory instead of fighting a cute girl a centimeter shorter than myself.

Then, all at once, the battle shifted.

My first warning was Chiyo's aura stretching out and violently attacked mine. The second warning was the scent of cinnamon candy. After that, everything went to hell.

The next step I took, my foot slipped out from underneath me when rubble, which I was sure was stable, rolled. I saved myself with an aerial flip, only to have my left foot punch straight through the weakened roof. Though it caught at a bad angle, my leg didn't break, thanks to my father's crazed martial arts training, but I was in deep trouble. I was trapped.

Chiyo didn't take advantage of that fact. She strolled toward me, walking across a length of rebar that, by all rights, should have torn free even underneath her tiny weight. I used the slow approach to my advantage and pulled myself free.

At which point, the roof underneath me crumbled, dropping me once more into the floor below. I glanced up to look for Chiyo, but aborted the search when a more immediate problem made itself apparent. Behind me, a portion of the concrete roof had balanced itself on one end. No sooner did I spot that fact then did the it fall. I scrambled to get out of the way, but broken debris caught me effectively and I was helpless to stop the large slab from crashing down on top of me.

The blow left me dazed and annoyed, but not really hurt. With minimal effort I repositioned my hands and shoved the heavy concrete block off and to the side.

I pulled myself free and brushed some dust from my shirt. Chiyo wasn't there to stop me. Why would she be? This, I now realized, was her attack. Chiyo was using her aura to forcefully cause events to move in her favor. In effect, Chiyo had become a living manifestation of Murphy's law.

Except, today, Murphy was on Chiyo's side.

I decided right then that I really, really hated Chiyo's ability. It was almost appropriate that I picked up the distinctive scent of gas at the same moment. I didn't need to glance to know what came next. Sparks flew from water soaked circuits and the room around me ignited. I jumped free from the flames, only to be smacked aside by a second gas explosion.

I hit the roof low, stumbled, rolled, and then skid to a stop. A fit of coughs cleared smoke and dust from my lungs. It was only after that I realized I was at Chiyo feet. Chiyo smiled down at me, like that cat who had finally cornered the mouse. She swirled a lollipop once in her mouth and then popped it free and spoke sweetly.

"Cotton candy cocoon."

I sprang to my feet, but the pale threads were faster. They shot up in an open, swirling maw, that seized my legs. Fibrous sugar dragged me down to the ground and, in a great gulp, swallowed me whole. I struggled briefly in the blanket of glittering pink, but lethargy grew quickly and I fell into darkness.

-oOo-

I awoke on a warm, puffy surface. I blinked bleary eyes, feeling dazed. My mind swam. Everything felt distant and unimportant. If the whole world floated away right then, I wouldn't have cared. Or maybe I had everything upside down. Maybe it was me that was floating away. Away and away until the world was gone.

It wasn't bliss, but contentment. I was more relaxed than I'd ever been in my entire life. It made me smile.

Smiling and serene, I stared up at fluffy clouds. Here and there were puffs of marshmallow floating in a great pale-pink sky. Strange. Pretty though. I watched for them for a long time, but there was a nagging feeling that wouldn't leave me alone. There was something I needed to do. I didn't know what it was, but in the end that feeling was enough to pull me to my feet.

My balance shifted when I stood, and I glanced down to see I was standing upon wispy blankets of cotton candy. No, not blankets, earth. All the hills as far as the eye could see were made of cotton candy. Each slope had its own pastel colors. Soft blues, lavenders, washed out greens, spotted the ground in even humps. The hill on which I stood was the cutest pink.

Other features broke apart the land. Giant candy canes, and enormous lollipops jutted from the cotton earth like mighty trees. Towering mountains of gum balls filled the horizon. A stream of milky chocolate flowed between hills. Most prominent of all, was a rainbow filled with twinkling, translucent shapes that arched above a gingerbread castle.

Watching the land left me with a funny dissonance. It was as though part of my brain was telling me that pink sky, fluffy hills, and candy trees were perfectly natural. Yet, the other part of me was objecting, and insisting that, if all this was natural, why couldn't I remember seeing anything like this before?

"Where am I?" I asked in a sweet, dreamy voice. I couldn't help it. I sounded the same as I felt - utterly serene and content.

"You are here," A voice answered.

I turned and found the speaker, a red, gelatinous, gummy worm. I cocked my head to the side seeking the riddle of why a talking gummy worm bothered me.

"And where is here?" I asked.

"Here is here."

I nodded slowly. Of course, here is here. Why didn't I think of that? And what was that emotion that sparked and died when the worm gave that answer? Annoyance? How strange. Why would such a reasonable response make me annoyed?

I scanned the horizon once more. That something that had been nagging me refused to give up. I had been doing something. Something important. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what that important thing was, but I wanted it to go away so I could be all content and relaxed, forever.

Hmm. Maybe the worm knew.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

"Ah," the worm said. "Same reason every girl comes here: to become a candy princess."

Of course. That must be what was bothering me. I'd come here to become a candy princess. That made perfect sense... except... I didn't remember wanting to be a princess, much less a candy one. In fact, the idea sounded rather horrible.

I felt confused. Why did I come here to be a candy princess if I didn't want to be one? Thinking about it was giving me a headache. Perhaps it'd be better just to forget my objections and go with the flow...

_No!_

A shudder ran through my body, and I found myself voicing my concern. "I don't think I want to be a candy princess."

The worm shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You go to the castle, you become a candy princess. That's the way it works."

What the worm said should have bugged me, but instead I focused on a different detail. How could a worm shrug? I had no memory of seeing the worm shrug. What would a worm shrugging look like anyway? Maybe a contraction of its body so that it became smaller. But that wasn't what happened. I just knew the worm shrugged. It was as though the knowledge had been stuffed directly into my brain.

Which, beyond that constant background sense of wrongness, seemed perfectly reasonable. Worms shrugged, and they did so without moving anything.

That nagging sensation became more insistent. Something inside of me really didn't like the idea of becoming a candy princess.

"Why?" I asked quietly, mostly to myself. It stood in for all the questions I wanted to know.

The worm though, answered it anyway, "Well, you couldn't very well become a princess unless there was a castle. That wouldn't make any sense at all."

I ignored the worm. Instead, in a flash of determination I turned my back to the castle and started walking. Inside me the war renewed. I was certain I didn't want to be a candy princess, but if I'd come all this way to become a candy princess then walking away was the wrong thing to do.

Wait. If I'd come all this way, then where had I come from?

"What are you doing?" the worm asked. It didn't sound angry, merely curious.

"I'm leaving," I explained. Though I had yet to figure out where I was leaving to. For now, just heading away from the castle seemed best.

"Leaving?"

"Yes, I don't think I want to be a candy princess, so I'm leaving."

The worm's head nodded a few times as though understanding. "That makes sense. But..."

I stopped, and a sudden spike of tension ran through me, banishing tranquility. "What? You think you can stop me?"

"Oh no," the worm replied. "No, I was merely going to point out that you are still heading toward the castle."

I stopped, stared at the worm, and the looked at the castle. The castle was, indeed, a lot closer than before. The great gingerbread arches all covered in frosty icing and the pillars of crystallised sugar were now clearly visible. The smell of the palace was intoxicating. My mouth watered, and my body leaned toward the structure as though I'd been magnetized.

"That doesn't make any sense," I muttered. "I should be further away, not closer."

The worm shrugged once more. "All paths lead to the castle."

I frowned at the worm and then purposely sat down. I needed time to think. There was something important. I had been doing something important and then I came here. I came here from...

... A roof?

I shook my head and then wiped my brow. It was getting hot. I glanced around and realized that I had passed beneath the gingerbread gate and was now within the bowels of the castle. The air here was sticky and carried an intense scent of ginger, sugar, cinnamon, and a hundred other tasty treats. In the distance was the thunderous roar of machinery. The sound of a factory.

Briefly, I wondered how I'd gotten into the castle when I was sitting. Then I berated myself for being silly. Of course staying still led to the castle. I giggled at the silliness of me forgetting a simple truth like that.

"We're to the mixing pot now."

Those words seized my attention. "The what?"

"The mixing pot. Where you'll be melted and mixed."

Melted and mixed... The notion being melted down caused primal emotions to tear free from the tranquility. Panic and fear took control. Melted! I definitely didn't want to be melted.

Suddenly, I was on my feet once more, running as fast as I could away from where I was inevitably being pulled. It didn't make a difference. I descended deeper into the castle with each passing second. When my eyes jerked back, I could see the melting pot. A huge copper cauldron with flames licking up the sides. I ran even faster.

Moving faster didn't help. Soon, I was at the edge of a conveyor belt and about to be dumped into the pot. I jumped. For a second my leap carried me away from the pot, then my body moved backwards as though all gravity originated from the bottom of the bowl. Helplessly, I fell within.

Hot. Hot! It was insanely hot within the cauldron. The pot was like the surface of the sun, not even Saffron's flames could compare. My skin boiled on my arms and then began to slide off.

I screamed for three second. Then my brain registered that, despite the heat, and despite the fact my body was literally melting away, there was no pain. Again there was that sudden feeling that things weren't making sense, but that was swept away by the even greater terror of my flesh turning to liquid. With horror I watched my chest pool at the bottom of the pot. Shortly thereafter my head was gone. I was left unable to do anything but stare straight up at the gummy worm that floated in the air.

It didn't make sense. Nothing here made sense. With force of will I shoved aside that false impression rightness, and grabbed ahold of intellectual dissonance. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

And, if it wasn't real, then what was it?

A dream. No. It was too lucid, and something... I'd been doing something important on a roof. A fight. I had been in a fight.

"Now to mix in the ingredients," Worm said from above. The gelatinous creature stretched its tail beyond the edge of the pot and then hefted a big paper sack. Rotating it's torso, the worm began to pour a fine, white, granular substance.

"Lots and lots of sugar for you, and some coloring too." As the worm said in a sing-song voice. It then extended itself a second time and dumped a bucket filled with potent pink into the pot.

The touch of the ingredients was revolting. My throat gagged, or it would have if I still had a throat, when the substances tainted my skin. Slowly, the pools of the ingredients dissolved, spreading like oil through my liquid flesh. They were becoming me, and I was becoming them.

_No!_

I tried to fight, but what could I fight with? I tried to thrash, but I no long had any muscles. There was nothing I could do to stop the ingredients from combining with me.

Not real. Not real. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Don't think about it. I calmed and focused my mind once more on what was truly important. I had been on a roof. Fighting. Fighting what? Fighting a magical girl. I ran? No. I didn't run. I had stopped running. I had faced her. I had faced...

... Chiyo.

All at once clarity returned. I had been fighting Chiyo, and she'd nailed me with her cocoon attack.

This was no mere dream. Instead, this was the inside of Chiyo's cotton-candy cocoon. A world, or an illusion thereof, that was dedicated to the purpose of slowly transforming me into Chiyo's pretty new toy, just as it had Kodachi.

"Now its time to, stir, stir, stir everything together," The worm sang. "And blend, blend, blend until everything is one."

At the bottom of the pot paddles began to turn. My insides swirled as liquid flesh was pulled into a spiral. The heaping pile of sugar was swept up with the motion, and quickly vanished inside of me. An eruption of sweetness drowned my senses, and for a second it was the only thing I could perceive. The bursting flavor left me dizzy, and turned my brain to mush. At the edges of my awareness a bubbly emotion rose. It was a sparkling, giggly happiness. A generic delight and contentment I'd never before contemplated.

Thick strands of pink joined in. The deep, wondrous, gorgeous color grew paler as it amalgamated with my sweetened flesh. With each turn of the paddles, my melted body became a solution, a synthesis of the ingredients. I dissolved into gooey, sugary, pink-tinted Ranma.

Enmity twisted, convictions shattered, and new ones grew in their place. I was becoming a candy princess and I suddenly wanted that. I wanted it more desperately than I had wanted anything in my entire life.

I fought against these manufactured emotions. I focused on pink. I loathed pink and what it stood for. Pink was femininity. It was girlish obsession with cuteness. It was little hearts, pretty dresses, and the sweetest smiles. Pink. Pink was pretty. Pretty. Perfect. Pink. I... I loved pink.

I wrenched my mind back from the daze I'd fallen under. A will to fight surged. Empowered less by hatred and more by the rejection of surrender. I wouldn't lose to this. I wouldn't allow it.

I was in Chiyo's cocoon, I reminded myself. I needed to escape. Escape where? I couldn't leave the pot. I had no arms, no legs. Even if I did, running away and running forward were the same thing here. How was I supposed to reach the edge of the cocoon?

Wait. The cocoon. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was _in_ the cocoon, not some alternate dimension. People don't melt in real life, and even if they did they would certainly die. This place wasn't real, but it wasn't a dream either. The castle, the pot, all of this was nothing more than a manifestation of Chiyo's magic.

Which meant the cocoon was right in front of me, where it had always been. Arms and legs were unnecessary here. My enemy was Chiyo's magic, and I already knew magical girl powers could be displaced by a sufficiently strong ki.

"You're all mixed up now," the worm commented, "Time to pour you and mold you."

The opening of a valve at the bottom of the pot sucked away my concentration. There are no parallels to the experience that followed, my body oozing and dripping through a pipe. It didn't hurt. Instead there was a cramped feeling, as though I were being pushed through a mountain of pillows.

More than anything though, it was the separation that was distracting. Sporadically a part of me would fall from the end of the pipe and plop into a shape. In those moments the gap was tactile. Then there was the oddness as toes, feet, calves, and thighs reformed. The pairing between the intense heat of the melting pot, and the chill of the bronze mold. It wasn't until my the last of my brains dripped down that I could think clearly once more.

Darkness. In darkness I settled, the new solution of sugar, pink, and me reforming into a person. A person with feminine curves and buoyant breasts. A giggly, sweet girl who loved the color pink and everything it stood for. Here though, I was temporarily divorced from all other sensation. Here I could concentrate and break free before I lost the will to fight.

With a breath, I called on my ki, and my life force responded. Reality intruded upon illusion, and the lie of Chiyo's manufactured world was laid bare by the contrast. The shattered parts of my mind pulled themselves together, fighting against the false serenity, and denying the bubbly, giggly longing to become a candy princess.

Spirit met cocoon and the mold around me vanished. I was once more on the roof, propped upright by a shroud of sugar. I flexed my arms and the sticky, fibrous candy resisted. My strength alone was not enough, and the cocoon ate my life force with every passing second. The vestiges of the bronze mold insinuated themselves into my renewed reality. A distant sound of metallic ringing teased my ears. I felt myself slipping.

No! With a final wave of strength I forced my ki into my newly developed ikisasu. Cutting ki gathered around my right hand, and I jerked the limb up. Sugary threads severed, and I spilled free.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Techniques:**

List of techniques mentioned or appearing. Common Ranma ½ techniques are not included. All martial arts / ki / ki-like techniques are in (crappy) Japanese. Most magical girl powers are in English.

_**Dokuja Tanketsu Sho **__[Canon] – _Part of the Yamasenken, this technique is a fierce hand strike that is intended to rip out an opponent's heart.

_**Ikisasu **[lit. Spirit pierce]_ – A technique derived from the yamasenken. It involves forming a solid penetrating aura around the offensive limb(s). The enhanced limb thereafter acts as a form of spiritual weaponry and deals damage to metaphysical auras. Unlike its source technique, the ikisasu, when used correctly, does nothing to increase physical attack power. The ikisasu was created specifically to breach the defensive aspect of a magical girl's aura. It is only somewhat successful in this endeavor.

_**Liquorice Bit Bullets** –_ Kodachi fires a swarm of little liquorice bit bullets. The bullets form as a cloud on her hand and are released one at a time at machine gun speeds. Kodachi can control her release, and release in bursts, but each bullet must leave one at a time (shotgun style is not possible).

**_Raspberry Liquorice Twist_**_ – _Kodachi animates a rope of liquorice which attempts to wrap up the opponent. Presumably the liquorice becomes raspberry flavored when this power is used...

_**Cotton Candy Cocoon**_ – A transformative power that forcefully uses haigeki and shuken to transform any girl wrapped within it. The effect is a forced tenki, except that the tenki follows the nature of Chiyo's megami no ooi. Specifically, girls captured within are transformed into a 'Candy Princess'.

The cocoon's effects fade with time, much like tenki itself. However, this techniques does have a permanent side effect of shifting the subject's natural aura closer to the 'Candy Princess' state. When used with enough power, and duration, this change becomes permanent.

Only girls with high spiritual power are able to become magical girls through this method.

_**Jinx**_ – Ordinarily, Chiyo's luck manifests as events that prevent her from being harmed. By extending this natural armor, and intensifying the haigeki aspect, Chiyo is able to cause random events to occur to the detriment of the opponent. Essentially, this ramps up a magically induced and super amplified version of Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong).

Because jinx is luck based, it is impossible to control how it manifests. Chiyo, however, is able to give some degree of direction. For instance, deadly or non-deadly. Drive the enemy away, or drive the enemy closer.

_**Bubblegum Barrier** (unnamed)_ – Chiyo chews some magically created bubblegum, and blows a bubble. The bubble floats high above the battlefield and explodes. The point of the explosion becomes the apex of the barrier, and bubblegum blocks off all other access points except underground. The barrier's surface is magic, so it is deceptively resistant against simple physical attacks.

**Characters**

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

_**Yuka** [Canon]_ – One of Akane's friends.

_**Hikaru Nigata**__ [Resistance]_ – The 'salary-man'. Hikaru is in his mid-to-late twenties. He has a somewhat foul mouth and a relaxed attitude. He is a veteran combatant with years of experience fighting magical girls and demons, and his skill have been somewhat refined by practice and martial arts classes.

Hikaru is fundamentally a man without ambition. His job for the last decade has essentially been hunting demons, and helping girls escape the clutches of the Pretty Princess Institute. In combat Hikaru can draw in large sources of natural energies and release them as ultra-powerful attacks. Beyond that, he has superhuman speed and strength.

_**Mamoru Chiba** [Resistance]_ – Tuxedo mask. The magical 'boy' who is the reincarnation of the 'Prince of Earth' and the destined lover of Sailor Moon. He keeps to himself and isn't very talkative. In the small group led by Hikaru, Chiba is the only one who can consistently keep Fumio Miyagi under control. He aids the small band at Setsuna Meioh's request. Mamoru throws roses as projectile weapons, and is an effective fighter when wielding his cane as a sword.


	3. Knight

**Author's Forward –** _I've got to say, ouch, the review totals and traffic metrics indicate that last chapter was a flop. As for the cause, well, there is plenty of room for debate. My intuition says that the appearance of an 'invincible enemy' triggered a sudden onset of post traumatic bad fanfiction syndrome in some of my readers. Another viable hypothesis is that this story comes across as 'too predictable'._

_On the predictable end of things I am forced to admit that, yes, there are aspects of this story that are predictable. Why, I've already told you some future events 'outright'. And, of course, there are other events that can be foretold because they are a natural consequence of things already set in motion. But, dear reader, I warn you that I have revealed only a tenth of my hand and I am skeptical that anyone out there truly grasps that which remains hidden._

_But don't take my word for it. Feel free to prove me wrong. If you can. That right. Go ahead. Predict. I dare you. Just know that I'll be silently snickering at your feeble attempts._

_Meta Note: This is not, in any way, a subtle attempt to manipulate you, dear reader, into giving more reviews._

**Author's Warning -**_ This story is Ranma-centric but most interaction is between Ranma and original characters. There is also a moderate crossover (and several minor ones), but I don't consider the crossover important enough to put this story in the crossover section._

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 3: Knight**

-oOo-

Limp as a dead fish, I spilled from the pink candy cocoon. My body flopped forward, face first onto concrete, my gelatin arms unable to break my fall. The sharp shock of impact did little to ease the dizziness that assaulted me. Pain was ephemeral, a false sensation amongst an ocean of torpid tranquility.

A pestilent fervor bubbled beneath the surface of my thoughts and a giggle teased my throat. Amongst those emotions there remained enough rationality for me to realize that, though I had escaped Chiyo's cocoon, I had not completely evaded its effects.

"Do not think you will get away with this, Chiyo. The Director will not forgive this transgression."

The woman's strong voice stole my attention. I turned my head, my cheek scratching against the concrete of the rooftop. I fought to focus my eyes on the speaker. She was armored, astride a giant, flying wolf. The last glimmers of twilight trickled through the mirrored buildings behind her. With polished steel helmet beset with wings, corslet belted in place over a mail shirt, and an iron shafted spear in hand, she seemed an ancient warrior fresh from an epic painting.

Chiyo's cackle echoed cutely from where she stood, atop a bent girder. "Gondul, you remain naïve." The saccharine demon leaned lazily on a candy-cane battleaxe, her fingers playing along the hilt creating an air of imminent threat. "Have you not realized how this works? As long as I fight at the Director's side, she will forgive me anything. Unlike you, I do not need to dance like a puppet to her every whim."

Beneath the armored warrior, Gondul, the great silver canine shifted. The wolf stalked Chiyo, its padded feet finding purchase on the vast voids in the shattered skeleton of the building's top floor. To the magical beast, air was no different than solid ground. Neither of the women paid the creature any mind.

"Loyalty may be concept beyond your grasp, Chiyo, but I had thought you capable of comprehending a plan," Gondul declared. "The Saotome girl was not to be tainted."

I looked away. Neither of the women had noticed I was free, and chances were they would not catch my movement for some time. Instead, I took in my surroundings. During my time in the cocoon, I had been moved. The now empty husk of pink cotton candy occupied the seat Chiyo had set aside for me around the tea table. Kodachi's red cocoon was directly across and still intact. Even now the poor twisted girl was becoming more twisted. Hikaru was also there. In the last couple of hours he hadn't moved an inch. Hikaru sat as he had through my entire fight, eyes glazed, and a lollipop hanging from his lips.

Hikaru. That was a problem I could solve. I glanced once more at the women to confirm that they remained preoccupied.

"- so pathetic as to let her fall into my hands," Chiyo was retorting. "You failed, Gondul, be glad you'll have her at all."

Good. Certain that Chiyo and Gondul were focused on each other, I stood. Weak muscles protested the movement, and giddiness played with my balance. I wobbled briefly and I became aware that my weight would not settle correctly. I looked down and found the culprit.

Heels, or more correctly, a heel. My left foot was encased in a crystalline, stiletto-heeled shoe. My right foot was even worse. The toe box of my right slipper was transformed into the same crystal, shoving my digits up at an awkward angle, while back of the slipper was untouched.

There were other changes. My clothes were covered in splotches of white frill and pink coloring. My pants were half transformed, the back stretched out in a ruffled skirt, the calves thinned into stockings, while the front was unchanged. A breeze blew my hair across my eyes. While within the cocoon my pigtail had come partially undone. The length of my locks was uneven, and my red mane had been adulterated by strands of glittery pink.

"Hand her over now, Chiyo. I will not ask again," Gondul bellowed, holding her spear aloft. The iron shaft crackled with lightning, and Gondul's battle aura surged. The fierce illumination cast the roof in a flickering blue hue. Gondul's power was nowhere near as monstrous as Chiyo's, but it was still strong enough to shake my core.

There was no question now. Chiyo and Gondul were going to fight, and when they started the whole building was coming down.

I had no more time to waste. Snapping out my arm, I ripped the lollipop from Hikaru's mouth. A mistake. My eyes zeroed in on the translucent red candy, my nose twitching with the strong cherry scent. My whole world tunneled in on the saliva slicked the lollipop, all my senses vanishing into a dull emptiness as my entire existence devoted itself to the tangible sweetness.

Unbidden, I brought the lollipop toward my lips. My tongue stretched out.

The flavor was a hammer blow. My vision exploded into dancing rainbow spots. The bubbly emotion frothing beneath the surface of my brain burst out setting my mind awhirl. Wonder swallowed me. I looked with bright eyes on the city lights, a child witnessing them for the first time. Dazed with delight, I could no longer hold back the musical giggle that escaped my throat.

Lightning flashed. The roof exploded.

The crash of thunder was deafening, and the concussion caused me to stumble. The ground tilted beneath me, ravines opening up in the building's structure. Gravity pulled and a thousand tonnes of rock began to tumble. I plunged, surrounded by ragged chunks of structural concrete, steel beam, and rebar.

I hardly noticed any of it. I drowned in bliss, my tongue molding itself to the cherry sweetness of the lollipop. My senses sang with the taste, and I felt as though I were floating through a silent void. Consumed by the flavor, I happily watched new patches of pretty pink and the cute frills sprout on my clothes.

_Thud!_ Ooof.

A well-muscled shoulder slammed into my gut, forcing my lungs to cough out half their contents. Arms as thick as my waist wrapped around me and held me tight. The force of the blow changed my trajectory. Instead of smashing down atop of the two-lane, one way road below, we crashed through the glass window of the office building across the street.

My back hit industrial carpeting at a low angle, and then we tumbled. My head slammed into the hardened floor twice, making me even more whoozy. Eventually the spin stopped, my savior's weight settling atop of me.

My eyes focused on Hikaru's twirling face.

We were face to face, eye to eye, noses centimeters apart. Hikaru's body pressed down on mine, and his heat sank into my soft female form. I could feel his hot breath as it washed over my face. It smelled of musk, tinged with the cherry sweetness of Chiyo's lollipop.

_Th-thud. Th-thud. _The pounding of my heart was heavy. The drum beat was not driven by adrenaline, but an attraction. I recognized the feeling, the buried memories of past experience rising from the recesses of my mind.

Time stood still, the air between us grew thicker. Hikaru reached up, thick calloused fingers brushing across my face. My breathing stopped. There was nothing in me but desire and anticipation.

_Clack_. The click of hard candy ripped through my teeth shattered the moment.

My muddled mind at first failed to realize what had happened. Hikaru had torn the lollipop from my mouth. That thought completed itself as the salary-man slashed his arm to the side, throwing the candy out the broken office window. Eyes wide, and filled with desperate need I lurched up, only to slam into Hikaru's mass. My momentum slowed, my head swung forward, and my forehead conked into his.

I fell back to the ground, blinking away the pain. Hikaru took the chance to shove himself off the ground and take a few steps back. Two emotions, gratefulness and annoyance, flashed through me at the increased distance, but it was the latter that held sway.

_BOOM! Rumble. Rumble._

Thunder banged with physical force. The room rattled, shattered shards of glass trembling on counter tops. Wind howled past the broken window, and the chill night air surged into the room. Papers fluttered from their desks, sucked into a spiral in the middle of the open office. I shivered, and watched more chunks of concrete fall from the building we had left. Then I switched my eyes back to Hikaru. I'd be much warmer if he was laying here with me.

Hikaru did not return my gaze. Instead, he stared out the window head angled up where the battle raged. His nervousness showed clearly in his tense, corded muscles. After some time, he dragged his eyes away from the window.

"You okay over there?" he asked.

I blushed, first from the joy of his attention and then with embarrassment. I was unpresentable. I did my best to improve my appearance, pulling myself to my feet and using my hands to smooth my skirt. That was the limit. My clothes were ugly. The candy had gotten rid of the half-pant half-skirt combo, but the product remained an ugly pink and black splotched mess. At least my balance had improved. My shoes were now a matching set. I admired how cute they were, and how nicely they offset my stocking clad legs.

A real pity though. If I had stayed in Chiyo's cocoon for a few more minutes I'd be much prettier. But there was nothing I could do about that now. Looking as best as I could, I put on a charming smile and answered Hikaru's question.

"Yes. I'm lovely," I replied. A girlish thought popped into my mind. Crossing my ankles, and fingers lightly lifting my skirt, I dipped into a cute curtsy. "Sir Knight, thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome, but I think I'm going to interpret all that as _definitely_ _not_ okay," Hikaru drawled.

Hikaru looked away again, shifting his angle so he could better see the storm that raged above the broken building. Flashes of lightning strobed in through the window, lighting Hikaru, and the scattered desks that filled the office. His white shirt and the white papers were especially bright under the electric glow.

The joy of Hikaru's attention dissolved. Annoyance returned, this time darker.

What was his problem? Sure, I wasn't very cute right now, but I was still pretty enough that Hikaru's attentions should have been on me. That was where his eyes belonged. He didn't need to think of anything else. I was his dream, I was his passion, I was his destiny. Hikaru-

From deep within another part of me slammed down on the thought, cutting it short. But my indignation persisted. Dark, sweet, and twisted, I trembled with a new desire. My aura fluttered, an invisible ripple, carrying the scent of nectar. My lips parted, ki gathering between them. My spirit stretched out, grasping for an unknown magic. It found only vapor. The spell could not be conceived, its form aborted by my early emergence from the cocoon.

"We should leave."

Hikaru's words broke the unthinkable thought. Twisted desire vanished. I found myself again in a daze.

"Leave?" I asked, confused. "Why would we leave?"

"Chiyo and Gondul might be busy murdering each other right now, but they'll drop their fight when they notice we're gone," Hikaru explained while walking away from the window.

Hikaru approached and I swayed toward him. He paused at the threshold, close enough that I could feel his body heat jumping the thin gap between us. He peered down at me, appearing unsure. I drank the sight of his shaggy blond hair, and the rough hairs poking from his chin. The masculinity of it made him more enticing.

"Uh, just so we're clear, this is for your own good. So no kicking my ass later, got it?"

I smiled and stepped in closer, the tips of my breasts pressing against his chest. I tilted my chin up, so I could maintain our gaze.

"I would never do that," I said sweetly. "Not to you, Hikaru."

Hikaru nodded, "Yeah uh, we'll see how you feel about that later. Now, sorry about this."

With that Hikaru dipped down and plucked me from the ground and flung me over his shoulder. With arms of steel he held me in place while walking rapidly toward the window. Anger boiled in me again, and I lifted up an arm and smacked Hikaru in the back.

"Ow!" Hikaru yelped. "Damn it, don't hit."

"If you're going to carry me, do it properly," I huffed. "Like a princess."

Hikaru snorted out a laugh. "You're no princess," Hikaru retorted. With that, he jumped through broken window.

We fell, the buildings lit by the baleful glow of electric discharge. The sky rumbled, and more concrete boulders plunged with us. Hikaru landed on the road, my stomach crashing down on his shoulder. I barely had time to recover before we were in the air again.

With dizzying leaps Hikaru danced amongst the sky scrappers. The experience, me, a girl, carried in the arms of a handsome knight was new. The giggly happiness surged, eclipsing the discomfort of being being hauled around like a sack of potatoes. It wasn't the proper girlish dream, but I made the best of it by adding cute squeals.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!" "Waiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" "Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"

Hikaru ignored my sounds. He was a man with a purpose, and as seconds turned to minutes I found myself wiggling in his arms, craning my head to see where we were going. I didn't recognize this part of Tokyo. I rarely ventured far from Nerima, and I had explored only a fraction of the nooks and crannies of that ward. My smile though became sly when we slowed.

A public bathhouse.

"Oooo, a bath. You aren't going to peek on me, are you?" My silky words were a request not a question.

Hikaru answered with a snort. Tightening his grip he strode through the curtain that separated outside from inside. A man in his forties looked up, and the cigarette nearly fell from his lips when he caught sight of me. Hikaru said nothing, he merely reached into a pocket and dumped a pile of coins on the table without bothering to count them. Then, he headed for the men's section.

I smiled at the desk man as we left, and then struggled in Hikaru's arms when he continued past the rinsing section and toward the main bath.

"We need to clean ourselves first, Hikaru," I whispered into his ear. "It'll be fun. I can wash your back and- Ieeeaaaa!"

_Splash!_

I plunged into the heated bath, my bottom thudding on the shallow bottom. I barely had half a second more to think before pain took hold of my head and squeezed. Bubbly bliss, and dark desire evaporated. For an instant my mind was perfectly blank, then my perspective was twisted 180 degrees.

With my psyche reeling, I surfaced. The pain was gone now, but I wasn't yet able to make sense of my recent memories. So, to help my thoughts clear, I concentrated on the most basic of processes. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breath in...-

Okay. I'm Ranma Saotome, martial artists extraordinaire, and the manliest man the world has ever seen. No matter how hard anyone looked, they'd never find a single feminine thing about me. That stuff from before, just another day of mind control.

-... Breath out.

I opened my eyes, and, with a start, realized I remained female. Damn. My mental reboot was successful, but my body wasn't following the program. I still had breasts, frilly clothes, and pink hair extensions. Actually scratch that, my soaked clothes were slowly dissolving in the heated water. Red spread through my shirt, and black splotches grew on my newly reformed pants. As the last bits of pink and lace faded, my body started to twist. It was a slow, uncomfortable, ten second shift, but in the end my natural male form was restored.

Tension drained from my body, and the hot water started its work of easing my sore muscles. Good. I really didn't want to deal with another locked as a girl episode.

The funk of embarrassing memories lingered, but I pressed them aside. I've had worse. Instead, I waded to the edge of the bath, and took note of the other occupants. It wasn't busy, just two old men and a little kid. The child gazed an me with wide eyed wonder. To the boy, I was a mysterious creature with magical powers – a girl that turned into a man. I expertly avoided imagining what old men might be thinking.

Years ago, when I was first cursed, those searching gazes would have left me defensive. I would have yelled and shouted, and otherwise acted like an idiot to make the stares go away. I no longer had that energy and anger. These days, all that remained was a tired chuckle. That's right. I'm weird. Live with it.

Nearby, Hikaru entered the water.

"We staying then?" I asked.

Maybe I wasn't up to snuff with the latest escape techniques, but I was pretty sure stopping for a relaxing bath wasn't an approved strategy for fleeing mortal peril. Well, minus those cases where one was fleeing flying, minotaur, tentacle monsters and other assorted Jusenkyo freaks, of course. Bath houses worked great for those kind of encounters.

"Chiyo's powers are candy based, and sugar dissolves in water," Hikaru explained. "So it is best if you soak here for a long while. That way you'll be rid of the worst of it. Besides, most magical girls will hesitate before busting in here."

I gave a half grin. "The girls I know wouldn't stop. Though, they'd crack the skulls of every man in here for daring to be naked perverts." My expression dropped into a scowl. "From what you said, I take it that I can't expect Chiyo's magic to disappear completely."

"I recommend you avoid candy and other sugary foods for the next couple weeks. If you ever start transforming again, take a bath. That's about all you can do."

Hikaru leaned back, eyes closed, and spread his arms wide across the pool's edge. My own thoughts drifted inward. 'Next couple of weeks' implied things would get better, but it also implied lingering effects. How much would linger and for how long remained a mystery. It was all too easy to imagine the worst. Ever since Jusenkyo I've had nightmares that I would awake a girl in mind as well as body. Two years of being cursed had done a lot to cure that phobia, but from time to time I ran into something like the koi rod and that terror became all too real.

I stomped down hard on that train of thought. I couldn't let myself be sucked into that abyss again. I had more immediate concerns.

My _ikisasu_ wasn't enough. Even against Kodachi, the technique served only to degrade her defense. In the end, true victory had eluded me. That was the bitter truth. Against Chiyo? Against Gondul? I could not imagine how I would defeat either of them, even with a month to perfect my _ikisasu_. I'd be better off facing down a main battle tank with a can opener. The difference in scale was that big.

_Ikisasu?_ Who was I kidding worrying about _that_. Akina had destroyed me with a lullaby, and while I had broken Chiyo's mind control twice, and I'd succumbed to the third assault. The challenge of overcoming a magical girl's defense was matched by the difficulty of surviving their offense. Normal stuff I could deal with. Energy beams, deadly carrots, or sharp swords, all those were things I'd faced before, and all could be dodged or deflected with my standard skills. My training, though, had gaps when faced with mind numbing music, allergenic pollen, and misfortune.

I was short on offense, short on defense, and armed with only half-formed ideas. It wasn't an unsurmountable obstacle. Magical girls were not invincible. With a couple of weeks to pick Pop's mind, and a pinch of his madness to mature the resulting skills, I'd be ready for this fight. But even that wouldn't be enough to take down monsters like Chiyo and Gondul. Survive them, yes. Outlast them, if I got lucky. Defeat them? That wasn't going to happen.

I didn't have weeks. I didn't have months. The clock was ticking. I knew for certain now that these magical girls would brainwash Ukyou and Akane. They'd succeed too. If this Pretty Princess Institute could make Kodachi heel, neither of those girls would stand a chance.

I clenched my fist. I had to save them. There was no 'if' or 'buts' about it. Saving Akane and Ukyou was the only choice. Kodachi too, when it came down to it. Though, in Kodachi's case, I had to face the possibility it was already too late.

Yet, I couldn't walk forward. I was weak.

How I hated that thought. Me weak? Ha! Ranma Saotome wasn't weak. I was the best damn martial artist alive. That was what I liked to tell myself anyway. Truth was, I wasn't that stupid. Cologne and Happosai were better martial artists than I'd be a decade from now. Herb, while marginally less skilled, was unquestionably the stronger fighter. Tarou had flattened me repeatedly with that monstrous form of his. Then there was Rouge with her Asura curse and, of course, Saffron.

I'd never been the biggest fish in the sea, but until I ran up against these magical girls, I hadn't realized how small I actually was. I hated that, but I couldn't deny it. The truth hurt. I, Ranma Saotome, was weak.

And where did that leave me? No. I knew exactly where that left me, I just didn't like it. I knew what I could do to move forward. I had, hypothetically, an ace up my sleeve that would put me back in the game.

But, oh, the price I would have to pay to play it.

Even in hot water, I shivered.

Forward. I told myself. Don't wallow in doubt. Save Akane and Ukyou. That was the only thing I need to think about. I could win. I would win. I would do whatever it took to win. Damn the price. Victory or nothing. That was how I fought. And _that_, more than anything,was why I was the best.

"Weren't you a girl before?"

The little kid that had seen my transformation was floating in the bath a meter away. He had a curious expression on his face that I didn't particularly want to indulge. Yeah, I don't like explaining the whole gender bending experience to everyone I've met. It got tiring after the first ten times, and I was way past that number now.

"I'm a guy, brat," I replied. "Now go bother someone else."

"Leave youkai-sama alone, Taro," one of the old men said.

Taro's eyes grew wide and his mouth gaped open. I guess this was the first moment it had dawned on him that freakish humans like me might be a bit dangerous. Normally I'm nice to kids, but I couldn't resist the opening.

"Yeah, run along brat, or I'll eat you," I said, grinning nastily.

I chuckled quietly when the boy fled to the other end of the bath.

In the lull of the child's confrontation, I was able to appreciate the absurdity of the my current circumstance. Here I was, contemplating war with magical girls, while relaxing in the bath in my street clothes. Crazy stuff like that only happened to me.

With an amused grin, I took the chance to strip myself. That was the one aspect of my silliness I could easily fix. Besides, I didn't want to walk around at night with soaked clothing. Jusenkyo might prefer to activate with a splash, but submergence in cold water was a close second. I'd rather not tempt fate, especially while I was unsure what Chiyo's lingering magic had done to me.

So I stood and peeled off shirt, pants, and slippers. With a twist, I wrung the water from them, and with a flip of my wrist they flew across the room, and found a low wall to hang off of. When I dropped back into the hot water, my mind had returned to its mental calculus of how I was going to free Ukyo, Akane, and hopefully Kodachi.

There were three major obstacles I knew of: Gondul, Chiyo, and some director chick. Those I'd need to avoid. There were four I could defeat: Kodachi, Lilac, Carrotcake, and Fencer. My chances of victory against Akina and Michiko remained uncertain.

That gave me nine definite opponents. Given my luck I'd better assume that Akane and Ukyou would also be enemies, upping the group's size to eleven. Those kind of odds were horrible, but not overwhelming provided I used stealth and had a bit of luck. Of course, I was still assuming that a place named the Pretty Princess _Institute_ didn't have a whole lot more girls than that.

Which brought me back to the reason I'd been looking for Hikaru in the first place.

"So where is this Pretty Princess Institute?" I asked.

Hikaru opened his eyes and shifted them to me. "You aren't going to assault the Institute are you? Because that's a suicide mission."

"So what if I am?" I challenged. "Whether I'm getting in over my head is my business."

"Hey," Hikaru returned, sounding a bit angry himself. "I'm not about to help some kid kill himself."

My eyes darkened, "Either you talk, or I starting beating up magical girls for information. Its all the same to me."

Hikaru stared into my gaze as though trying to force me to waver through force of will. I didn't back down. Eventually, Hikaru looked away, resting his forehead in his hand.

"Shit," he muttered. "Fine. But you better listen to all I've got to say before you run off half-cocked."

My annoyance grew. "I'm not sitting here for a lecture."

For a second it looked like Hikaru was about to force the issue, then he relented. "Fuck it. It's your head, kid. Okay, what do you know about the PPI?"

"Nothing," I answered with a shrug. "Except they've got Akane and Ukyou, and aren't above busting up a school and kidnapping. That, and there are magical girls working for it."

Hikaru frowned. "That it?"

"I'd never heard of the Pretty Princess Institute until this morning."

"Wait. What?" Hikaru asked, incredulous. "Don't you read the news? Watch TV?"

I grit my teeth and swallowed my aggravation. "No, I don't. Just fill me in, okay."

Hikaru shook his head. "The Pretty Princess Institute, or the PPI for short, is a magical girl institute. It was put together about ten years ago when the government decided enough was enough. Basically, the PPI's job is to scoop up magical girls who are off their rockers, and teach them how to fight without toasting half the city."

"So it's a reform school for magical girls," I deadpanned. I wondered how long it'd be before they started to do the same for crazed, super martial artists. Heh, that might be what this whole affair was about.

"Yeah that's a pretty good descriptor. Except the Director, Artemis Serenity Silvervine, had her own ideas. Instead of turning the girls into model citizens, she's been converting them into her own private army."

Ugh. Of course she was. What else could anyone expect from the director of a magical girl school? Still, it was a little unbelievable that the PPI had been up to this craziness for years. The Furinkan grab wasn't what I'd have called a low profile operation.

"And the Diet is just sitting on its hands while this happens?"

Hikaru shrugged. "Its more complicated than that. The PPI's existence lets the government claim it is doing something about the constant demon problems. Lots of politicians have supported the organization for that reason, including the Prime Minister. Dissolving the PPI would be a huge loss of face.

"Plus, there is a good bit of quid pro quo involved in the current arrangement. As long as the ministries avert their eyes, Artemis hands off a percentage of the brainwashed girls she has collected. The big recipients are the National Public Safety Commission and Defense, but there are girls scattered all over. Everybody's a winner. Well, not the girls themselves, but who's counting?"

"Thats..." My words trailed off and I felt my stomach turn. "Never mind. So, if the PPI is a magical girl school, how many girls are we talking about?"

"Hundreds," Hikaru answered easily.

My hand suddenly clenched. Hundreds? That had to be a joke. Hundreds of girls was an army. The PPI, literally, had an army of magical girls.

"Not all of them are there at any one moment, of course. A bit over a hundred normally, best we can guess. But, like I told you, attacking the Institute itself is a suicide mission."

"There is no way in hell I'm backing off," I growled.

Hikaru shook his head. "Kid, there's no sense getting pissed about it."

Hikaru's rationality only fueled my rage. I slammed a fist down on the edge of the pool with force. Concrete exploded in a spider web of cracks, small gray chips shot out, and dust puffed into the air.

"I don't lose!"

The words, even to me, sounded fake. Hundreds. Hundreds! How many Chiyo's would there be? How many Akina's? How was I supposed to win? How could I save Ukyou and Akane from an army of magical girls? Even if I did, how could I stop the PPI from stealing them back?

It felt as though the world was cheating. Even when standing against Saffron, it'd been me and him. His supporters, with the exception of Kiima, had been jokes.

The same, to some degree, would be true of the PPI. But an army of girls like Carrotcake and Lilac, each with an aura of invincibility and each with dangerous unique powers, was entirely different monster. Even with my _ikisasu_ I wasn't sure I could defeat those girls instantly, and yeah, their offensive skills might be laughable, but throw in a few broad area shots by stuff like Lilac's allergenic pollen, and things would stop being funny real quick.

If a handful of Fencers, Carrotcakes, and Lilacs got themselves organized, they'd be enough to slow me down. That was all it would take, because even if a normal magical girl didn't stand a chance one-on-one, the PPI had no shortage of girls that did.

"I understand what you're feeling, believe me." Hikaru let out a heavy sigh, and his eyes grew distant. "Five years. I've been up against the PPI for five years now. I can't count the number of times I wanted to throw caution to the wind and storm the gates."

I didn't want Hikaru's sympathy. I wanted to win. My fury refused to die.

"You expect me to just let it go? Damn it, they kidnapped my fiancée and my best friend. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and hope for the best."

"I'm not telling you to do anything, kid," Hikaru answered. "I'm not your guardian. Frankly, I couldn't stop you if I wanted to. But I wouldn't be a decent human being if I didn't make an effort to set you on the right path."

My muscles tensed once more, but I forced them to relax. Hikaru wasn't the target of my anger. He'd done nothing but help from the moment we met. I couldn't make myself like him though. Standing off to the side and with a cool head accepting the nastiness of the world, that wasn't my way.

"Do you, at least, have friends to back you up?"

Names shot through my head. Mousse and Ryouga, both had 'helped' me a fair number of times. I dismissed them instantly. Magical girls weren't normal fighters, and without properly developed ki techniques, those two were be worthless. Besides, there was no way I'd ever get Ryouga to raise a hand against female opponents. Worse, neither of the them would accept the seriousness of the battle until it was already too late.

There were other, less obvious names, but most of them had no advanced ki techniques. When I filtered for that the list was small: Pop, Cologne, and Happosai. Pop, like Ryouga and Mousse, wouldn't take things seriously. Cologne wouldn't lift a finger to help Ukyou or Akane unless I made a down payment, and probably not even then. The old ghoul was too wise and too old to get dragged into a fight of this scale. If push came to shove, she'd pack up and go.

When I got down to it, the Happosai was my best bet. But Happosai was the most unreliable of an unreliable bunch. Happosai didn't help people for any reason. He'd refuse out of principle. I could trick him though, send him into the Pretty Princess Institute to do some damage.

No. Bad idea. If Happosai saw me there, he'd attack me for no other reason than our petty differences of the past. That was just the start of it. If the old freak discovered that the PPI's victory would end up with me in lingerie, he'd might end up helping the organization I was seeking to destroy.

Happosai could not be trusted.

"No," I answered eventually. "Most the guys the back me up normally would be useless against magical girls. The ones that can fight either won't, or can't be relied upon."

"That makes things harder," Hikaru murmured. "Tell you what, I'll have Chiba talk to Hecate. If we can convince the senshi to throw in their support, then we can probably accomplish something real."

I glanced at Hikaru. "I thought you weren't getting involved in this?"

Hikaru gave me a grin. "It's not that simple. I don't know if I'll be able to pull enough firepower together that I can risk giving you more than a leg up. But, if you're going to throw yourself at the PPI, I'll be certain to do what I can to up your chances of success. Just do me a favor and hit them where it hurts, okay?"

I felt my anger wane and a feeling of hope replace it. I gave a cocky grin. "Heh, they'll wish they never messed with Ranma Saotome."

Hikaru chuckled. "Yeah, well we'll need to start-"

A sudden buzzing sound caused Hikaru cut himself off. In a flash the dirty blond was out of the water and searching through the pockets of his discarded clothes. A second buzz was followed by Hikaru pulling a large, chocolate bar from a pant pocket. Hikaru placed the candy next to his ear and started talking.

"What is it? ... Yeah. ... Shit! I'll be there soon." Hikaru stood and gave me a look. "Sorry, but I have to go."

I frowned at Hikaru, pausing for a second before I stood and started getting dressed. My clothes were still soaked from their long dip in the bath. Wearing them wet would be unpleasant, but I've lived with worse. My focus instead was on the chocolate bar communicator-phone-thing that Hikaru had just used.

"What is that," I demanded.

Hikaru glanced at his hand and the device he was holding in it. "This? Just a communicator. You should see the one Chiba got off the girls. It's pink."

"It's a candy bar," I said, noting the obvious. I didn't mention that we'd just finished fighting a very powerful candy themed magical girl. I didn't have to.

Hikaru sighed. "I'll explain later. I really have to go. Chiba and Fumio need my support. Tell you what, we can meet somewhere tomorrow. Just give me-"

"No," I interrupted. "I'm coming with you."

"This isn't your-"

"It's my fight now. They made it that way."

Hikaru opened his mouth to say something and then snapped it shut. "Fine. But try to keep up."

I snorted. "You don't need to worry about me keeping up."

With that, the two of us where dashing away from the bathhouse and back into the cold Tokyo night.

-oOo-

At night, the city was a sea of stars, and the streets a river of light. Towering glass buildings, streetlights, neon signs, each held their own beauty. Each bright dot pierced the shroud of darkness, mankind's mighty attempt to beat back the primordial fear that lurked within our animal brain. It was a powerful, yet haunting sight. Man fought a winning war against nature, but in doing so it replaced the beauty of the universe with a pale, artificial imitation.

To me, the stars that shined from the void of the sky would always be greater and more comforting than electric light. A pity the two could not coexist.

Ahead, Hikaru flew above the streets. His plain, white, button-up shirt a bright ambiance in the shadows of the giant buildings surrounding us. He hurried ahead of me, and I struggled to keep up. My breath puffed painfully with the weariness of today's battles, and I was not quite used to navigating the deep city. Here, leaps from roof-to-roof were often impossible, but I watched and learned, echoing Hikaru's steps as we ricocheted off walls, touched down in dirty alleys, and occasionally crisscrossed atop the peaks of the buildings.

Tokyo wasn't a small city and this kind of movement wasn't exactly as the crow flies. We made pretty good time though, given the amount of distance we had to cover. I didn't think it was more than fifteen minutes before Hikaru and I came to a stop. I didn't need anyone to tell me we had reached our destination. The bristling towers of ice rising from manholes, each sprouting long, spindly, bladed branches was a damn good give away. I gave it ninety-nine out of a hundred that this was Fumio's battle field. I held out the slim possibility of error only because I didn't know what kind of wacky powers magical girls might have.

Hundreds. Again, I reminded myself of that fact. The PPI had hundreds of magical girls, so I'd better assume there wasn't a single form of magic that couldn't be brought to bear by the Pretty Princess Institute.

"I don't see either of them," I said.

No sounds of battle. That didn't mean much. The city was a big, noisy place, and warriors like Hikaru and me could cover a lot of distance during a fight. Fumio and his opponent had really torn up the place. There were gashes of melted pavement across the ground and smooth holes punched through the debilitated buildings. Michiko's work, if my guess was right. The silver suited beach babe had a beam cannon that would leave markings like that. I didn't see any signs of Chiba, but his fighting style was more subtle.

Hikaru dropped to the ground and I followed him, sticking my hands in my pockets, nonchalant. The inner cloth was still wet, but even that discomfort was an improvement over the cool breeze that rolled in from the bay.

"I guess we look around then?" I asked when the silence dragged on too long.

Hikaru jerked toward me, as though remembering I was there.

"Yeah. Doesn't look like we have a choice there. I hate to say it, but we better split up," Hikaru said. He gave me a guarded glance. "Be careful. Michiko is out there, and none of us has anything that can take her down."

I clenched a fist. Another unbeatable girl. Even if that was true, I would still take my best shot. I needed to evaluate the effectiveness of my technique against someone whose strength was less than that of Chiyo's insane power, and yet who had more spiritual force than Kodachi. It was hard to say that Michiko was that woman, but even if she wasn't I'd need all the training I could get if I wanted to survive the likes of Chiyo and Gondul.

"Don't," Hikaru warned. "If you fight her, you'll lose."

Even though my instincts agreed, my pride smoldered. "Didn't we go over this? Whether I fight her and whether I lose is my problem, not yours."

"Sorry, kid didn't mean to touch a nerve," Hikaru said quickly, raising a hand to ward off comments. "You can face her if you want, but let me give you a heads up. Michiko has one hell of a barrier, and it is strong enough to take all the shit Chiba and I can throw at it, combined."

I gave a dismissive nod. I could handle myself just fine, and while I was thankful for the help I'd been getting, I wasn't exactly looking for it either. Besides, I wasn't planning on repeating the mistake I made when fighting Chiyo. I would pull out if Michiko proved to be too much.

"Are we going to search for Tuxedo and the brat or not?"

"Yeah. I'll scout the bay. You see if you can scare up something a little closer. We meet back here in ten. Got it?"

After saying his piece, Hikaru jumped up and grabbed a live wire with his bare hands. Cascading sparks shot across his shirt, and rippled along his pants. Undamaged the salary man fell back to the earth, a continuous bolt of lighting stretching from the wire to his raised arm. Then he pulled. Current ripped free from the wires in a sheet, and wrapped itself around Hikaru's arm in shimmering, chaotic, shroud.

I raised an eyebrow. "Neat trick."

Hikaru flashed a grin. "I'm better with fire, but there's nothing burning around here, and the city would probably appreciate it if I keep the property damage to a minimum." Hikaru's expression sudden became serious. "In ten."

Then, Hikaru was gone. Vanishing as he bounded between buildings.

I stayed put, taking a second to admire the fountains of icy death. I considered the battlefield. If I was a twisted little brat with the power to turn water into deadly ice, where would I run to? Yeah, it was pretty obvious. The sewers, no shortage of water there.

Hands still in my pockets, I lazily strolled to one of the manholes. A sharp, low kick shattered the ice at the root, and five stomps splintered the solid matter that blocked my path down. A short hop afterwards and I was in Tokyo's enormous sewer system. The place was big enough to walk in. Hell, it was big enough to fight in, and that was saying something.

The sewers ran for some distance to both the left and the right. There was a trail of ice and scarred walls to the left, so the direction of choice was clear enough. I followed the path of destruction, keeping my ears open for any sounds. Nothing. Either the fighting had left the sewers some time ago, or the kid was playing hide-and-go-seek with his opponent.

I ventured on. The sewers were a maze and the icebergs and melted stone were intermittent. I solved that dilemma by picking up the speed, zipping down the tunnels and quickly getting lost. I didn't worry too much, I was capable of making myself an exit topside if it came to that.

I wasted six minutes, and was considering doing exactly that when luck decided to side with me. Out of the corner of my eye, and down a sewer tunnel to my right, I spotted one of Michiko's mini-UFOs. The silver disk had its profile to me. A sheet of red light emanating from the UFOs front ran up and down another branch of the convoluted tunnels. Once done, the disk turned its back to me and floated further away.

I crept after it.

The device wasn't very smart because it never turned to face me. Every once in a while it turned and scanned down a new path before floating onward. Then I hit the jack pot.

My first clue was a tiny drop in the temperature. That was enough to draw my eyes to the water. The already smooth surface turned to glass as dark crystal spread across water's top. The growing sheet of ice zigged and zagged like a snake, seeking out the silver disk. Once beneath the UFO, glacial crystal turned an opaque white and then thrust upward in a giant spear.

The blow caught the disk from the bottom and cut a gash into the metal. If the attack had been centered, the UFO would have been destroyed instantly. Instead, the silver disk was blown to the side, spinning like a coin as it bouncing off one of the walls. Then, in a flash, it righted itself and turned its glowing face down a corridor.

I didn't give the silver disk a chance to shoot. I dashed along the device's blind spot as it reoriented itself. When the UFO's gun began to glow, I was right behind the disk. Without hesitation I grabbed it with both hands, snaking my fingers into the sliced metal. Then, using brute force, I tore the disk in half.

_BANG!_ Something inside the disk blew when I ripped it open. Heat washed over my arms and swept across my face. Little pieces of shrapnel bounced off my chest and forehead. My hands twitched with the discharge of electric current. I ignored it all, discarding the scrap into the water.

"Fool," hissed Fumio's quite voice. "You've given our position away."

I eyed Fumio's hiding spot. The boy had his back flat against a small divot in the tunnel walls. I gave a snort and rolled my eyes. "You gave yourself away when you missed, brat. I'm just cleaning up your mistake."

"My mistake? My mistake! I don't need your help. I had everything under control until you stuck your incompetent-"

"Shut up," I barked. I tilted my head to the side.

Fumio's eyes lit up like a bonfire, and his hand twitched causing the water to form frosty, white ice on its surface. I tensed, ready to dodge the insane kid's attack, but Fumio paused when he heard the same sound I did.

_Click. Click. Click._ The punctuating sound of hard, high-heeled shoes upon the stone surface of the sewer walkways. Michiko had found us.

"She knows where we are," Fumio whispered, his eyes burrowed into me, placing all the blame on my shoulders.

I grinned wide and cocky. "Good. That'll save me the trouble of looking for her."

"You are insane."

I shot Fumio a dark glance. "Says the brat who tried to kill his companions because he lost his temper."

I didn't catch Fumio's response because at that moment Michiko rounded the corner. The tall blond was wearing the same skimpy outfit as before, a tiny, silver bikini and high-heeled sandals. Her curves filled the swimsuit to the bursting point. Of all the magical girls I'd seen so far, Michiko was the one that best deserved the title magical woman.

Michiko strutted forward, the same giant chrome bulk slung over her shoulder that I had spotted out the windshield of Hikaru's van. It was a metallic cannon of sorts, the size of a small motorcycle. I assumed that big meant the gun was a _lot lot_ stronger than the ray canons sported by the silver disks. Though, given this was magic, that kind of logic didn't necessarily apply.

Michiko paused a decent distance away. She dropped her gun from her shoulder and held it in both hands so that the barrel pointed down the hall. "Ranma Saotome, designation XT-11. Your presence was not anticipated." Michiko's steel blue eyes were cold and calculating.

"Surprise," I said with a grin.

I shifted into a loose stance, one not far from a normal standing position. My eyes took in the terrain, making a mental map of the tunnels from guesswork, memory, and limited experience. I didn't hear the droning sound of Michiko's silver disks. Good. But I'd be a fool to forget that they were out there, and probably moving to outflank me right now.

Tactically, Fumio had the right approach. There weren't many places as well suited for ambush as the Tokyo sewer system. But, I wasn't fighting Michiko so that I could pick off magical girls one by one. This was a test of my strength, my theories, and my limits. A good, clean victory would prove an assault on the Pretty Princess Institute wasn't complete madness.

I suppose my stubbornness, my all consuming need to throw myself over and over again at each powerful magical girl I saw, wasn't an indication of mental health. My record so far was horrible. Victory, however, was only half the battle. I learned nothing by running away. If I couldn't learn? If I failed? I could live with it if I lost under those conditions... well, I could live with it briefly.

"Surrender. You do not possess the capabilities required for victory. My weapons are not suited for capture. A fight between us may prove fatal," Michiko said evenly.

My eyes skirted the sewer water. Trails of black ice slithered across the surface, closely hugging the waterway's edge. The brat was planning something then. Fumio wasn't the type to worry about friendly fire. I decided to let him have the first strike.

"Yeah, well, shit happens," I replied with a shrug. "If you fight you might die. That's how it works. If death scared me, I'd would have stopped fighting a long time ago. So sorry, no surrender here. Besides, cutesy candy princess wasn't on my list of future occupations."

Michiko's mouth curved into a sudden frown. Her left hand left her gun causing the barrel to dip lower. Long nailed fingers hooked a pair of glasses that hung between her breasts. The wire frames were as thin as threads, and lenses crystal clear. It made the glasses practically invisible. In fact, until Michiko had grabbed them, I had not realized they were there.

With a total lack of regard for the brewing battle, Michiko flipped the glasses open and placed them on her nose.

_Crackle! T-t-thud!_ Great glaciers of ice exploded from the sewer surface, smashing into the cement surrounding Michiko. Of the hundred frozen spikes that slashed at her, not a single one reached. The spire shattered on a sphere of spectral light. Broken shards of ice, many the size of my fist, ricocheted off the barrier and bounced throughout the tunnel.

Barrier type, I reminded. Too strong for the kid to break too. I wasted no time testing it myself. With a diving dash, I slipped under the shower of Fumio's ice, swatting away the frozen blades that came too close. Stepping in I span my body, pivoting on my left foot and striking out with my right in a powerful reverse back kick. My leg, and all my weight behind it, rammed into Michiko's barrier and stopped. Pain shot through my shins and the heel of my foot went numb. I'd have done more damage kicking a steel wall.

Surrounded by ice and with my foot a meter from her head, Michiko nonchalantly adjusted her glasses, fingers tapping the top of the rims twice. Then, with a lazy motion, she allowed the tip of her cannon to sway toward the watercourse. _Screeeeeeee!_ Brilliant light poured from the barrel with such fury that the air screamed. Even with the beam pointed away from me I felt my skin bake. Instinct forced my eyes closed, but even with them shut the light continued to penetrate, searing a long line across my vision.

_Poosh! Hiss! Bubble, bubble, bubble._ The boiling watercourse spat geysers of water and clouds of steam. The atmosphere became thick, hot, and humid. The weak light of the sewers was now brightened by the yellow trench cut along the bottom of the frothing water.

The mist parted around Michiko's invisible barrier, leaving her untouched. She scrutinized me from head to toe, the lenses of her glasses covered with flickering patterns of orange light.

"Your spiritual matrix has been contaminated," Michiko commented coolly. "I will have to reconfigure the model to account for that. Tedious."

_Th-th-th-th-th-th-thud!_ My attempt at an ikisasu augmented amaguriken proved itself unable to pierce Michiko's barrier. Okay. Heavy and strong was a no go. Fast and concentrated wasn't any better. That left me with slow but forceful.

"The magnitude of the forces required to penetrate my barrier are beyond your ability to produce. Surrender, and save us both the unnecessary unpleasantness associated with reconstructing the bottom half of your body."

"You can forget me surrendering," I growled.

I placed my palm on Michiko's barrier and pushed. The sphere was smooth and hard like steel, but had no temperature. I focused my ki, and felt her aura react to mine. Twisting the form of my ikisasu I corroded her defense and slowly but surely my hand sank inward.

Michiko's eyes snapped toward my hand, and with one arm she hefted her canon so that it was pointed directly at my abdomen. I wasn't about to sit there and let her have the shot, so I blurred into motion. With lightning speed I sprinted up the wall and onto the ceiling. Michiko's reactions were slow, I was already falling on to the top of her barrier when she pulled the trigger. This time I closed my eyes and looked away to avoid being blinded by the searing beam of light.

Flopped atop Michiko's invisible sphere I immediately refocused my ki into the modified ikisasu. My aura tore at hers, causing the barrier to soften and sag. The technique took a couple of tense seconds to work. Fortunately, Michiko's beam cannon had an even longer lag time. The moment I fell through I knocked the weapon's barrel away from my face and toward the ceiling.

_Screeeeeee!_ The screeching light of destruction carved a third trench into the sewers as Michiko's cannon swung wide. I didn't see any of that, because I snapped my eyes closed the instant I saw the barrel's glow. Blind I fired a punch at Michiko's face, holding nothing back. Girl or not, I couldn't afford to play around.

My fist blew Michiko's head back and caused her to stumble. Blinking with renewed sight, I followed, jabbing twice before throwing a low fist into her gut. She didn't block any of it. Despite that, I continued the combo, finishing with an uppercut that caught her chin and flipped Michiko onto her back and sent her glasses flying.

On the ground, Michiko lay stunned for half a second, then she flopped over and reached for her gun. I was faster. Stepping in close I used the side of my foot to send the chromed weapon skittering into the drink. Then, as an afterthought, I kicked Michiko into the foul water as well. I grinned when her barrier fragmented around me.

"You know," I gibed, stooping down near my fallen foe. "You might want to surrender, cause there is no way you'll ever beat this kind of awesome."

Michiko's steel blue eyes traced the rivulets of dark water that ran across her ivory skin. Then she lifted her gaze and met my own. Her expression was cold, conveying no emotions beyond an infinitesimal irritation. Deprived of my just reward, I couldn't resist nabbing Michiko's glasses when she reached for them.

"Spoils of-," I froze. Something was wrong. The water no longer boiling. In fact, it was getting cold.

Whirling, I summoned my ki and unleashed a bolt of condensed pride toward the encroaching sheet of ice. My ki blast left my hands just as the water turned into a thousands spears of ice. Ice that shattered upon my attack, sending crystal shrapnel across the sewer tunnels.

Furious, I jumped to my feet and stomped down the tunnel where Fumio was hiding. "What the hell is wrong with you brat? I had her beat."

"Only a fool allows an enemy to walk away," Fumio called back, voice scathing.

My eyes flashed, and I decided it was high time that I gave the brat a piece of my mind. "There isn't going to be any killing on my-"

A sudden spike in Michiko's aura ended my rant. I turned to watch sparks of light converge on her. They formed a thin oval wall around the magical woman, and then exploded outward. Raw spiritual force hit me as a pressure wave. It didn't hurt, but the power behind it was enough to knock me off my feet and send me flying three meters into the now cold sewer water.

I surfaced and spat out the filthy liquid that had invaded my mouth. I ran my eyes across the sewers and relocated Michiko. I growled in frustration. My almost dry clothes were soaked again, and my body had transformed into its female form. Thanks Fumio. Compared to my 'practical' clothing, Michiko's silver bikini now seemed prescient. Most galling of all was that Michiko's barrier was now restored. The spectral sphere did more than guard Michiko from attack, it carved her a nice dry spot in the watercourse.

On the bright side, things could be worse. No happy shiny Ranma. Returning to my female form failed to renew Chiyo's mind altering sugar rush. I didn't detect any obvious alterations to my clothes or body either. Yay me. Knowing my luck, the lack of changes wouldn't be because I'd been cured of Chiyo's magics, but because I'd been dunked in _sewer_ water.

"See what you did brat?" I grumbled. "I had things under control and then you come and screw everything up."

"If you hadn't interfered and let me kill her, that wouldn't be a problem," Fumio retorted, for the first time stepping into clear view.

The boy sneered down at me, his face twisting with disgust.

"XT-04," Michiko said. "I will offer one more time only. Present yourself for detainment or you will be terminated."

My eyes shifted back to my enemy. Michiko was focused on Fumio to the point of ignoring me. Whatever good that would have done was cut short by the four silver disks that now surrounded the magical woman. Michiko had also fished her chrome cannon out of the water. Disturbingly, the damaged device was regenerating in real time.

Crap.

My girl form was too short to touch the watercourse's bottom. Michiko had distance and four guns to fire with, soon to be five. Even if I had time to reach dry land where I could effectively move, I didn't have a clue how I was going to breach her barrier a second time when Michiko had a greater rate of fire.

_C-c-c-c-c-crack! Sp-plash!_ As bad as things were, I couldn't help but look up when fissures formed on the ceiling, and chunks of rock and earth joined us in the watercourse. Well, wasn't that convenient, the roof was going to cave in. That's all I had chance to think, before the sky fell down on me.

Boulders plunged into the water while I scrambled for land. I didn't make it half a meter. Descending with the road was Hikaru, his white shirt glowing with the reflected light of crackling electricity. His hand was pointed down ready to release the lightning. Lightning. Water. Water that was touching _me_ and _not_ Michiko.

Sparks spewed from every stone and every wave in the water. The tunnels lit up as bright as discharge from Michiko's beam cannon. Jagged bolts, horizontal, vertical, and every angle in between, crisscrossed the room. The electric storm shredded two of Michiko's disks, the others surviving only because they were shielded by her invincible barrier.

That was all I caught. My vision swam, and my limbs swung wildly. My whole body convulsed, straining against itself as it attempted to complete the steps of twelve different dances simultaneously.

Consciousness faded with the dying sparks. Blackness. Untellable time. Then, a rounded hook jabbed into my ribs. I awoke, blinking and sputtering as I was dragged upward and out of the water. I glanced around. Michiko was gone, and Tuxedo was salvaging me with his extensible cane. Exhausted, I happily grabbed the wooden pole and allowed myself to be hauled from the sewers.

Once I was back on the streets, I flopped on the ground. I shivered for a few dozen seconds, and fixed Hikaru with a dirty look.

Hikaru had the decency to look embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't see you down there when I jumped in."

"You might want to work on that white-knight routine, salary man," I said nastily, "Otherwise those damsels will be going from distress to death."

Hikaru flashed a grin. "Good thing for me, then, that you're no damsel."

"Damn straight," I grunted. I rolled up so that I was sitting instead of laying on the sidewalk. "Now, do you guys have a nice hidey-hole where I can crash? Because I'm not too sure how much longer I can pretend to be mobile."

"I won't let you drag that _thing_ into our headquarters. She is one of _them_," Fumio sneered. His eyes glowed with hatred.

I swiveled to the brat. I didn't disguise my distaste for the fourteen year old murderer. "Don't think that just because I got lit up like a Christmas tree I can't kick your ass, brat."

"_He_ is coming with us, Fumio," Tuxedo said. "I won't accept any other decision."

Fumio fumed, his hands twitching to the empty water bottle at his belt. Suddenly the dark haired boy glared at Hikaru.

"Don't be looking at me for back up. I'm with Chiba on this. Saotome is coming with us. You owe him that much. We all do."

"Fine," Fumio said with disgust.

I took that as my cue to return to unconsciousness.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia:**

_**Diet**_ – The Japanese legislature. The Diet can dissolve the government through a vote of no confidence, and is officially the highest organ of state power in Japan.

_**National Public Safety Commission**_ – Cabinet office in Japan that administers the National Police Agency. Hikaru's reference here is essentially stating that the magical girls lent out by the PPI to this department are later distributed to high level policing forces throughout Japan.

**_Tokyo Sewers_ –** Tokyo's sewers are famously huge. Look it up. There are some amazing photographs.

**Characters:**

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

_**Chiyo Mori **(Crystal Candy Princess Chiyo) [PPI, Luck] – _A magical girl with candy styled powers. She fought and defeated Ranma on the city rooftops after having captured Hikaru. Amongst Chiyo's many skills and abilities is the power to use her defensive aura aggressively and produce an effect best described as _Jinx_. In the Pretty Princess Institute she is considered second strongest, marginally ahead of Gondul. Chiyo rates Saffron on the Daisuke-Saffron scale and her monstrous spiritual power is exceeded only by that of the Director.

_**Dr. Michiko Nishimura**__ (Techno Witch Michiko) [PPI, Barrier]_ – A magical 'woman' who can use 'technological weapons', which are in fact manifestations of her magic. She is the magical girl that blows up Hikaru's van. She is notably stronger than Ranma in terms of spiritual force, just under Herb on the Daisuke-Saffron scale, but is an unskilled combatant.

Michiko exhibits limited superhuman physical abilities, which is surprising given the scale of her supernatural power.

_**Fumio Miyagi**__ [Resistance]_ – A partially insane fourteen-year-old boy. Fumio has the power to magically freeze water and control the formation of ice. He actively hunts magical girls for his own private vengeance. Fumio is not fond of his allies, but has been forced to recognize he needs all the help he can get.


	4. Turning Point

**Author's Forward –** First off, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I really do appreciate it. Every review is another crystal I can gaze through to judge the reactions of my audience and determine if the audience's mood is as I intended. It doesn't matter what form the review comes in, all of them are useful, be they strange musings, story predictions, playful analysis, favored highlights, or constructive criticism.

So to all of you, thanks.

As a general note, since the reaction to the third chapter has been generally good, I'll assume, for now, that the second chapter's low traffic was a rare fluke.

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 4: Turning Point**

-oOo-

"So, what's Hecate like," I asked, my question driven more by boredom than interest.

It was a beautiful Thursday morning. The sun shined down from a brilliant sea of blue, spotted only by thin ribbons of white, fluffy clouds. I had recovered quickly from last night's electrocution but had tucked in early anyway. The last thing I needed was a long night worrying about Akane and Ukyou.

After an earlier morning workout, and a short discussion with Hikaru, I met with Chiba to be taken to the mysterious Hecate. Hecate, a time witch whose powers were fearsome enough to make Hikaru shudder. He summed her up with a simple statement. _Kid, whatever you do, don't piss off a woman who can jaunt back in time and discuss the merits of an abortion with your mother._

Point well taken.

Dangerous as she may be, I had little choice but to speak with Hecate. The woman was a leader of the 'sailor senshi', the only remaining sect of free magical girls in Japan. If Hikaru was to be believed, these senshi packed enough firepower to fight the PPI head on. With strength like that, I'd be more than equipped to face the Institute.

And that brought me here, to a small cheery corner of Tokyo just outside an outdoor cafe.

"You'll know when you meet her," Mamoru Chiba answered uninformatively.

Chiba, or Tuxedo as I often thought of him, was no longer wearing his formal battle garb. Instead, the college aged adult was dressed in a green, knit coat that hung open over a black shirt. Every time I took note of the man a jolt shot through my mind. For half a second, Tuxedo and Chiba failed to equate. Then, logic would reassert itself, and I would see the undisguised features: the shape of his body, the structure of his jaw, the strong but confident posture he held. Tuxedo and Chiba were unquestionably the same.

Yet, no matter how many times I looked, it felt like I was staring at a stranger.

I knew the cause. There was a subtle aura that hung around him, but even after ten minutes of trying to puzzle it out I didn't have a clue how it worked. Poking at it though had proved a great way to pass the time. I certainly needed one because, no matter how much I prodded, Chiba refused to be drawn into conversation.

Ignoring Chiba for now, I refocused on the cafe. I swept my eyes over the tables, scrutinizing their occupants. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, so the cafe's white, woven wicker chairs had few inhabitants. On the left side, an old man sipped coffee while reading a newspaper. Three tables over, a pair of ladies chatted while surrounded by shopping bags. A boy lurked in the far corner. He was a year or two younger than me and, given it was a school day, clearly playing hooky. Not that I had a lot of room to criticize. I was pretty sure Hinako had convened our class, destroyed room or no.

"So, where is she?" I asked, scanning the cafe one more time.

"Right here," a voice breathed into my ear.

I jerked. Instinct made me spin, and training caused me to lash out with the back of my fist. A green haired woman swayed out of range even as I pulled the punch. She wore an amused smile, and her ruby eyes danced. Hecate. I took in the sight of the woman. A violet business suit, black pumps, and heavy crystal earrings, a combination of fashion, power, and respectability. It was like catching a glimpse of Nabiki, ten years in the future.

"You're lucky I didn't take off your head," I said dangerously. I wasn't happy with being surprised. "I'm guessing that you're Hecate?"

"That is a name I use, but it would please me if you called me Setsuna," she answered. Setsuna's eyes drifted to the man beside me. "Mamoru, if you'd wait."

Chiba gave a faint nod and silently walked away.

I stood there for a long moment. There was something in Setsuna's posture that gave me bad vibes. A confidence, similar to mine, but different in its subtleness. The woman held herself as though the world was filled with marionettes, and it was she who held the strings. That presence chafed. I wanted nothing more than to prove that _I_ could not be controlled. I did my best to smother that feeling. We were here for business, not to fight.

"So, what's the answer?" I asked, jumping to the heart of the conversation. "Are you going to help raid the Pretty Princess Institute or not?"

With light gesture, Setsuna dismissed my question. "Refreshments first, Saotome-san. I took the liberty of ordering for us." There was a slight pause and Setsuna's smile quirked the tiniest bit. "I'm not imposing too much, I hope?"

The way she said it left me with the impression that Setsuna was, in fact, trying to impose too much. I glared at her. I'm not here to fight, I reminded myself.

"Lead the way," I growled.

Grumpily, I followed Setsuna into the cafe and up the stairs to the balcony tables. Here, on the second floor, we were isolated from the other customers. It was perfect for a private conversation. Setsuna took the seat across from me, gracefully sliding into the chair, her long, dark green hair swaying with each motion. I dropped into my seat and folded my arms across my chest.

A waiter arrived moments later, quickly depositing a pair of steaming cups. Then came a broad, white platter... and another... and another. Each of the three dishes held a heap of breads and pastries. The tense atmosphere between Setsuna and I eased as I took in the sight.

"I trust that'll be enough to satisfy your appetite, Saotome-san?" Setsuna said. There was a gleam in her ruby eyes, a cat staring at a mouse.

I broke the gaze and looked again at the platters. Croissants, cakes, danishes, and donuts decorated the dishes. Each was a delectable morsel and not a single one defied my tastes. It was eerie. The knowledge of me Setsuna had shown thus far could have come from Chiba. Was Setsuna's selection a coincidence? No. Her smug confidence said it all. _I know everything, and here is my proof_. I could practically hear the words.

It was creepy. But a free-food creepy was something I was more than willing to put up with.

I made a wide gesture over the food to confirm my impression. "This is for me?"

"Of course. A lady like myself could never consume so much. Though I recommend that you save the sweeter rolls for later. It wouldn't do for you to suffer an unintentional relapse."

I peered at Setsuna, but her polite smile gave nothing away. The manner in which she had worded her reply left little question that she knew the nature of my plans. I found myself growing more irritated but beat back the feeling by shoveling food into my mouth.

"Saotome-san," Setsuna began. She stopped. "May I call you Ranma?"

The request for familiar address made me pause. I stared then grunted an affirmative.

"Ranma-kun," Setsuna continued, "There are so many things you need to be told but, alas, now is neither the proper time nor the proper place. But, before I drag this conversation on too long, allow me to give my answer."

I stopped, my fingers paused over the second platter, the first already demolished. I took the time to swallow and met the woman's ruby eyes.

"Well then, what's it going to be?" I asked.

Setsuna did not turn away, her gaze remained steady while her face conveyed regret which, even to me, looked forged. "I'm afraid, Ranma-kun, that the senshi will not assault the Institute."

Silently, I pulled my hand away from the platter and pushed back my seat. I felt a spike of resentment, and berated myself for it. When had I started thinking I'd be doing this with anything but my own strength? How was it that I was irked by the refusal of a stranger? Hope. That was the answer. Hope had snuck its way into my thinking.

I crushed my emotions and stood. "Can't say I'm surprised," I said, doing my best to remain polite. "Thanks for the food, but if you aren't helping, I have things that need doing."

I moved to leave, but Setsuna spoke up.

"If you'd remain, Ranma-kun."

I stopped, one hand on the back of my chair while I glanced back at the woman. My feelings had been right. Setsuna was playing with me. Now it was time for her to reveal her hand. But I was no longer in the mood to listen.

"Whatever you are selling, I'm not interested. I've got too much on my plate right now. I don't need more games."

"Even if I were to offer assistance in your endeavor?" Setsuna asked while cradling her cup.

My eyes narrowed, but Setsuna's smile remained serene. The bitch was manipulating me. No sooner did I think that, then did Setsuna's lips curve wider as though she were aware of my thoughts and pleased with my realization.

"Let me guess. This is the part where you name your price."

Setsuna didn't answer. Instead she quietly sipped her tea. Waiting. Waiting until I sat. I stood stubbornly for a while, trying to win the unspoken contest. In the end it was I who gave in, my pride yielding to my desire for help.

"There is no price, Ranma-kun. From the very beginning I had intended to aid you in your task," Setsuna began. "How could I not? The Institute is a cancer – one that is quickly becoming malignant. To leave the Institute unopposed would be to invite the destruction of mankind as we know it."

"Yeah," I drawled. "That's nice and all. The Pretty Princess Institute is an ultra evil organization that's going to destroy the world. Whoop-dee-doo. Now maybe you can clear up my confusion here, cause I'm pretty sure I heard you say you are and aren't helping. So which is it?"

"Oh, but Ranma-kun I never said I wouldn't help," Setsuna answered. "I merely said that the senshi would not _assault_ the Institute. A more limited role, however, is acceptable. If you agree, my companions Uranus and Neptune, as well as myself, will provide protection to any young lady that escapes."

I leaned forward and glared across the table. "Let me see if I got this straight. You think the PPI is going to destroy the world and the only thing you're willing to do is escort prisoners to safety? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Setsuna failed to answer. I stewed in my seat for a while, watching the woman drain her tea with slow sips. The only reaction I could detect was one of amusement.

"Well?" My question was a demand.

Setsuna delicately plucked a pastry from the only remaining dish. She played with it for a silent second. "If you had the chance to travel back in time and kill Hitler, would you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Setsuna answered without hesitation. "It is a classic hypothetical question. Is it right to slay a single man if it guarantees the lives of millions? Is it right, even if he has yet to commit the crime?

"Of course, killing Hitler wouldn't accomplish anything. A fate set in motion by the will of tens-of-millions is not swayed by so small a thing as a single life. A pity really. If it were, my job would be much simpler."

Setsuna paused while the waiter refilled her cup. Then she dunked her pastry into the amber liquid, allowing it to soak before taking a bite.

"But let us set that aside for a moment and pretend that slaying Hitler would, in and of itself, prevent the second world war. One man's death and millions are spared. Would you do it?"

"No," I answered. I leaned back in my chair. "I'd probably just kidnap the bastard, use some techniques to wipe his memory, and then dump him in a city on the other side of the world."

Setsuna laughed. "A lovely answer, Ranma-kun. Lovely. But, that is where we differ. You see, I would do nothing. Nothing at all."

I snorted a half laugh, wondering why I was letting myself to be dragged into this conversation. "So you'd let everyone die then?" I shook my head. "Not that I am here to philosophize. In fact, I don't really care about any of this, but I'm assuming that somewhere in all this you have a point. Other than that you're a cold hearted bitch."

Setsuna didn't flinch at my insult. Instead she gave an indulgent smile, an adult looking down upon a naive child.

"You misunderstand, Ranma-kun. My choice was not born from callousness. I merely considered what you have not. You weighed the obvious consequences, but in doing so neglected that which was hidden. Consider, for a moment, what would happen if the second world war didn't occur. Certainly, millions would be saved, but at the same time the status quo would have been preserved. Imagine, for a moment, a world where all the hostilities that caused that war persisted, waiting to be unleashed by the slightest spark. Imagine a world where racial hatred, bigotry, and eugenics had not yet been painted with the brush of indescribable evil."

A chilling smile crossed Setsuna's lips, "Imagine a world filled with nuclear weapons, whose power man did not yet comprehend. Do you, Ranma-kun, think that world would be a better world? Would that world teeter on the edge of the abyss and pull back? Or would it fall in?"

Setsuna waited, letting her words sink in. "That is why I let Hitler live. That is why, I cannot, and will not ask my fellow senshi to go to war with the Institute even though it_ must be destroyed_."

Setsuna's last three words echoed in my head. I sought an answer, but found none. Instead, I began to wonder what were the dire consequences Setsuna believed would result from involving the senshi. Did she fear they would lose? Did she fear they would be captured?

I shook my head. It didn't matter. I was being sucked into a trap. There was no need for me to think about useless things. Yeah, it was hypocritical, but I wasn't here to play hero. I was here to save my friends.

When put like that, things became simple. Whatever Setsuna offered, I'd take. If she used me? So what. It wasn't like I wasn't using her. If her goals were good, and I ended up saving the world, great. If this was all one great big scheme to substitute one evil organization with another, I'd deal with it later. For now, all I needed to think about was saving Akane and Ukyou.

"You know what, I really don't care. Your reasons are your reasons. Whatever help you are offering, I'll take it," I said, putting my thoughts into words. "Now, if we're done here, I've got a lot of things that need doing."

"There is more, Ranma-kun," Setsuna answered.

Irritation flashed across my face. I had enough deep thinking for the day. "What is it? And make it quick."

"Gifts," Setsuna answered.

From her purse Setsuna pulled two manila envelopes. In purple pen the words 'Retreat' and 'Attack' were written in graceful script. She pushed the thinner folder labeled 'Retreat' toward me.

"The first is-"

"No," I said, shoving the envelope back. "I have no intention of leaving. I wouldn't run if I was the only target. I definitely won't while Akane and Ukyou need rescuing. I don't run away."

"As you say," Setsuna said, returning the manila envelope to her purse. Then she pushed the folder labeled 'Attack' forward. "Please accept this then, Ranma-kun. Feel free to use it in any way you wish."

I stared at the fat folder for a long time, considering how much help I really wanted to take. Finally, I decided that I shouldn't be looking gift horses in the mouth and snatched it up.

"Don't think this means I owe you any favors." I glared across the table, daring her to say something different.

Setsuna didn't answer. Instead she waved the waiter to our table and settled the bill. My curiosity got the better of me and with some effort I opened the manila envelope and peered inside. A single thin magazine was scrunched to the side, held in place by a thick bundle of paper. I recognized the bundle instantly, but spread the folder wider just to confirm it.

"Is this a joke?"

My eyes shot to Setsuna, who was now two paces from our table. The woman paused, and looked back.

"Certainly not," she answered. Then she began to walk into the darkness of the cafe. She was at the threshold when she stopped and looked back a second time. "Oh, one last thing, Ranma-kun. When you are lost in the darkness, and an enemy offers a hand. Take it or be destroyed."

I jumped up from my seat. "What?"

Setsuna didn't look back a third time, and continued walking as though she hadn't heard me. I scurried after her, quickly disentangling myself from the table before making a rapid pursuit.

"Wait!" I called out. "I can't accept this."

No answer. I reached the cafe's interior a second later and glanced around while my eyes adjusted to the dimmer light. Setsuna was nowhere to be found.

Stumped I looked down at the envelope. What was I supposed to do with a Kuno-sized bundle of cash? Dizzy from the thought of how much money had been thrust into my hands, I stumbled back to the table and picked up the paper sack that contained what remained of brunch.

I paused and glanced at the envelope a second time. I opened the folder again and slipped out the thin magazine. A single glimpse was all it took to make my mind to go blank. A second later my cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Quickly, I shoved the catalog back inside so it would be hidden, and shot a glance in every direction to make sure nobody else had seen it.

I was alone.

I let out a breath and stared at the envelope. Well. Beggars can't be choosers.

-oOo-

Sitting upon a cold stone bench, I viewed the last station of my venture. Unassuming glass doors embedded in brick delineated my final destination from the great outdoors. All that remained was for me to step inside and make my purchase. With that simple act, I would procure what I needed to triumph over the Pretty Princess Institute. Ukyou and Akane's freedom was so close I could taste it.

Yet, here I sat, trembling, muscles leadened, and limbs locked in place. I could not make myself rise. I was bound by the shackles of my mind.

Foolish, I berated myself. I needed to do this. Back in the bathhouse, I had made my choice. But those simple platitudes were not enough, and I could not hide from myself their faint falsehood. I had been victorious over Michiko and Kodachi. I could be victorious again. But that thinking was naïve. Arrogance and pride sought to lead me into delusion. I knew that well, because I could not forget the bitterness of my previous defeats.

The possibility of stealth, however, was a far more alluring fantasy.

On the surface it was simple. A quick trip in and out of the Institute. A sneaky bastard like me could pull that off with little trouble. Even were I wrong, I had the umisenken. With that technique's ghostlike aura, I doubted any magical girl would have a hope of stopping me.

But that was where the idea died. It wasn't _my_ sneakiness that mattered, but that of the girls. Ukyou at least, had potential. Akane, however, was a powder keg waiting to blow. If she didn't tamper down on her emotions, she'd give us away without a second thought. That was only the start of my problems. I'd seen both of the girls fight enough to know their training in stealth was slim to none. That was a problem I couldn't overcome. Stealth couldn't be coached on mission, and the umisenken only affected the user.

Strange, how recognizing that made me feel better. I didn't like the idea of unleashing the umisenken. My reasons for sealing the technique hadn't changed: too tempting to use and too easy to duplicate. That my Pop chose to bury the technique said a lot, and I wasn't eager to undershoot my father when it came to personal responsibility.

And that left me here, staring at certain doom. Funny how doom could take the form of a small shop wedged between others in an open air mall. It looked so innocent like that, as though its existence was ordinary. Personally, I'd have preferred a pet shop. Compared to this, petting cats sounded pleasant.

... okay. That was a lie. This was better than petting cats. Marginally.

Still glued to the concrete bench, I went through my internal mantra another time. It had to be done. I've already decided. Get up Ranma, enter the store, buy what you need, and obtain the power to face the Pretty Princess Institute.

My legs refused to budge, and I found myself courting an even greater delusion. That, without additional power, I could win.

A monsters like Chiyo? No sweat. I could handle it. Akina and her magical lullaby? Hah! That was an easy one. I'd just crush her before she could sing. Gondul with her lightning spear and flying wolf. I'd just jump up and kick both of their asses before we hit the ground.

Yeah. Right. I nearly croaked while facing Saffron, and I'd been wielding a magic stick at the time. Some of these girls were playing in the same league he was. Even those that weren't – Akina, Michiko, and Kodachi – were still plenty dangerous.

I had to face it. This fight was stacked in the favor of my enemies. That didn't scare me, but I wouldn't be half the fighter I was if I didn't do a little cheating myself.

Which meant I had to walk through the double doors and into hell.

But, before I could do that, I had to confirm that there wasn't an out.

"Hey," I shouted at the rooftops. "I know you're shadowing me, so come out where we can talk."

It was Hikaru that dropped from the top of the building across the courtyard and to my right. He gave me a lazy grin, not looking the least bit apologetic.

"Damn, you're good," Hikaru said with a note of praise. "When did you spot me?"

I scowled. It had been Chiba who had been ghosting my steps this morning. Apparently, I missed the moment when the two had switched out. Not that I was going to tell Hikaru that.

"What are you doing following me, anyway?" I asked.

"If you haven't noticed, the PPI has been pulling out the big guns. It's pretty obvious you're being targeted," Hikaru explained.

"I'm neither blind nor stupid," I replied. "Besides, at least half the girls flat out told me they were after me. So it isn't exactly a secret. That still doesn't explain why _you_ are here."

Hikaru gave a tight smile. "I'm just keeping an eye on things."

"I don't need your protection," I grumbled. "In case you missed it, I can damn well take care of myself. I even had Michiko down until the stupid brat shoved himself into the fight."

Hikaru cocked his head to the side. "No shit?"

"No shit," I answered.

To prove my point I pulled Michiko's glasses from a pocket, and twirled them in my fingers. I grinned as Hikaru's face lit up with recognition.

"You stole her glasses!" Hikaru said, his words obscured by laughter.

"Yeah." My grin turned to a smirk and I placed the glasses on my nose. Adopting a blank expression I pushed lenses up and said, "The probability of victory is zero per- Holy crap!"

Orange lights raced across the lenses, and wire frame boxes were etched into the glass. The glasses had come alive, activated by the touch of my fingers. Now the world was highlighted by a heads-up-display. Numerical entries appeared over objects, and Hikaru was highlighted with a ghostly orange light. I glanced down at myself, I was also highlighted, but in green with orange speckles. I shifted my eyes around, but the throng of humanity gained no such designation.

"What is it?" Hikaru asked.

"Michiko has some nice glasses," I explained.

On the top of the lenses, near the rims was a series of selection boxes: zoom, auto-adjust, shade level, and many others I did not comprehend. I probed the frames for a few seconds, and found that tapping the tops of the rims activated the 'buttons'. I hit zoom a few times, and the world sprang closer increasing to a four times factor before cycling back. I moved my fingers to the auto-adjust, but my exploration was aborted when Hikaru jerked the glasses from my head.

I turned to glare at the dirty blond, who now had Michiko's glasses on his own nose. Hikaru smiled with child-like delight as he toyed with the device. I grudgingly gave him twenty seconds before snatching them back.

"Those are mine, buddy. Spoils of war."

Folding the glasses, I slid them into a pocket so Hikaru wouldn't be tempted into nabbing them again. I gave him another glare and then fell silent. It took me a second to realize that I had yet to broach the conversation I'd called him down for.

"How did you end up with your powers? I mean, the whole magical boy thing?" I asked.

Hikaru grimaced. He glanced at the store and back at me, his expression twisting the whole way. Finally, he let out a sigh. "I suppose I owe you the conversation about this," he said, fishing out his candy bar phone and waving it around briefly.

My eyes caught the phone. I'd forgotten about that. "Yeah, you do," I said, voice grim.

"Where to begin?" Hikaru let out a long breath. He scratched his chin. "You know, when I stop and think about it, the story is actually really long and complicated. I'll try to make it short and stick to the highlights."

Hikaru paused and gathered his thoughts. "Okay. When I was young, dumb, and twelve, I thought I was in love. The girl in question, well..., she thought the same thing. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the girl was a magical girl. Neither of us really understood what that meant back then, so we hooked up, not much different than normal kids that age do. Shit happened. Adventures, hijinks, you know the drill. Next thing we knew, the two of us were caught in the magical equivalent of a marriage."

"Ouch," I interjected.

I winced in sympathy. For all my complaints, Pop had saved my engagement until I was sixteen, and part of me still held hope that the entire affair would miraculously disappear.

"Yeah, well, sometimes life sucks," Hikaru said with a shrug and a wan smile. "After the whole marriage thing it was like '_bang_', super Hikaru. Actually, that was kind of the point. We only figured out the whole 'destined to fight at her side for all eternity' thing later."

Hikaru chuckled, his eyes focused on distant memories. "To tell the truth, in the beginning it wasn't so bad. I kind of liked the 'battling the forces of darkness' gig. Then, like with many marriages, reality settled in. One day I woke up and realized that Chiyo was an evil, twisted bitch. It was maybe a month after that when Chiyo figured out that she batted for the other team. Things went down hill from there."

I couldn't help but interrupt. "Chiyo?" I asked, incredulous. "Really, Chiyo? Isn't she, like, fifteen?"

"Chiyo is five months older than me. She doesn't look it, though. One of those magical girl things." Hikaru leaned back and stared at the sky. "Life is a strange thing. Even though I hate her, I love her. I suppose she must feel the same way. Not much choice, really, since the two of us are bound by the red shackles of fate."

I couldn't help but shake my head. "You might actually be the first person I've met with a love life more screwed up than mine."

Where Hikaru leaned back, I leaned forward. I couldn't help but grimace. I'd been looking for another way to 'power up' so to speak. Getting permanently and magically married to random girl D was _not_ on the list of acceptable methods. Not that the answer I had was a whole lot better.

"What about Chiba, how did he get his powers?"

Hikaru snapped out of his reminiscing. "He is the destined love of Sailor Moon, either that or he's the Prince of Earth. I was never too clear on which of those two resulted in his powers. Why?" Hikaru asked, frowning. "You aren't planning on going in there, are you?"

Hikaru made a thumbing motion to the store I'd been looking at earlier. My gut lurched just thinking about it.

"I'd rather not, but I'm not seeing any alternatives," I replied. "How about the homicidal brat?"

"His mother was a magical girl. She got captured by the Pretty Princess Institute and killed herself to help Fumio escape. Don't _ever_ tell him I told you that," Hikaru said. Then he leaned forward with a serious expression on his face. "You do realize what tenki will do to you, don't you?"

I gave Hikaru a nasty look, "I trained in a couple of monasteries when I was younger. Had more talent for priest techniques than Pop, but that's like saying snakes fly better than rocks. Believe me, I know what is involved. There wouldn't be a point to purifying yourself over and over again if the effect wasn't cumulative and permanent. So, yeah, I've got a pretty good idea what the consequences of tenki are."

Hikaru waved his hands in front of his face, "I'm not trying to start a fight here, I just wanted to make sure you thought this through. You know, you don't have to go _there. _Most _girls_ wouldn't wear that kind of stuff. Not in public, anyway."

"I've met a few that would," I scowled at the store.

Angelic Pretty. That was the name of the boutique. Along with two-hundred-thousand yen, Setsuna's manila envelope had contained a catalog for that store. In any other circumstance, I would have been pissed that she sent me here. But I had already planned something similar myself, as such, I was a little grateful that Setsuna saved me from having to ask around.

If the store's name was bad, the contents were worse. A glance through the glass doors revealed a scene born from my nightmares. Pink, frills, lace, dresses, skirts, and bows, every garment contained within was woven from retched sweetness. The store was an eldritch abomination. A place like that was not built with human hands, but rather summoned from a netherwold by means of an unspeakable ritual.

Angelic Pretty. A place of horrors. A man could go mad simply gazing upon it.

I didn't belong in such a place. If I crossed that threshold, if I donned such garments, a precious innocence would be torn from me. Dared I do such a thing? Surely, the fact I had even thought of it showed how deeply into madness I had already descended.

And yet, what I was planning was even worse. Tenki. The willful act of taking that toxic cuteness and carving it into my soul. Tenki, profane as it was, would give me monstrous power, but, in turn, leave me irrevocably changed. I'd sooner strike a deal with the devil.

But Akane and Ukyou were in need of saving, and a devil had yet to present itself to me.

"You don't need to do this to yourself. Even if you're going to go magical girl, you don't have to go as _that,_" Hikaru explained.

I sighed. Hikaru was only repeating things I had already thought, and it wasn't helping to shore up my resolve.

"If I had a week or two, yeah," I answered. "With that much time I could train myself to act all girly and throw together a tolerable costume. Maybe I could become Dojo Doll Ranko, or Battle Angel Ranko, or something else equally stupid but infinitely more tasteful.

"Hell. Give me a few months, and I could develop an array of techniques based off my ikisasu and avoid the whole magical girl question all together. If I got real lucky, maybe I would stumble upon something just as good as tenki with less severe drawbacks. But, Hikaru, I don't have that kind of time. I saw Kodachi. Chiyo messed with her pretty bad, and Kodachi couldn't have been in the PPI's hands for long. If she had been, I'd have known. Kuno would have made his sister's disappearance nice and clear."

Which meant dressing in cute frills, pink, and enough sweet-lolita fashion to make Akane retch. Tenki required a megami no ooi, an aura of beauty, and that wasn't something I could create from scratch in short order. For better or worse, Chiyo had hit me with her cotton candy cocoon. I'd confirmed, after my visit with Setsuna, that some of it had stuck. My female form's hair had grown several inches and had pink highlights. More than that, my aura as girl had been twisted into a radiance of angelic sweetness.

It wasn't much, and it definitely wasn't the way I'd have liked it, but it gave me something to work with.

"It's my damn choice, Hikaru," I said. "I know you mean well, but you don't know me well enough to be sticking your nose this far into my affairs."

Hikaru closed his eyes and turned his back to me while shaking his head. With three leaps he'd climbed back up to top of the buildings that towered around us. I didn't even look to see where he'd gone. Instead I stared at the double doors, my stomach doing cartwheels the entire time.

Then, reluctantly, I stood and walked each torturous step toward to the nearby fountain.

-oOo-

"Hey, Syaoran," Hikaru called out waving an arm.

A lanky, brown haired man in green, chinese battle-robes stepped away from the brick wall of a Akihabara electronics store. Syaoran was clearly older than me, but not by a whole lot – mid twenties at most. Despite being in the heart of Tokyo, the warrior monk had a jian sheathed at his belt. I also caught glimpse of ofuda stashed up his sleeves, so the man had mystical power to back his martial strength.

The bustling crowds ignored Syaoran, passing around him with little more regard than a long glance. Here, where cosplay was common, he was dismissed as just another man playing pretend.

Syaoran approached, his eyes sweeping across us. They didn't slow as they passed over Fumio and Chiba, but they paused noticeably on me and the duffel bag I had slung over my shoulder. I returned a friendly grin, and was summarily ignored. I guess not everyone had heard of Ranma Saotome. I'd have to work on that.

"Nigata," intoned Syaoran, nodding to the dirty-blond. He merged with our group and matched our pace. "Give me more warning next time. My wife couldn't make it. I nearly didn't myself."

"Nice to see you too, Syaoran. Did you make arrangements?"

"Sakura and Tomoyo are renting flats in Hong Kong," Syaoran answered. "No news yet on how we'll get the girls there."

"Don't worry, we're working with Hecate," Hikaru said, slapping the other man on the shoulder.

Syaoran nodded thoughtfully. "Transport and retreat are covered. What's the plan?"

"He's the plan," Hikaru said, gesturing to me.

I smirked. "Best plan you'll ever get. Ranma Saotome," I said, introducing myself.

"Syaoran Li," Syaoran replied. He gave me a measuring gaze. "How are we going to do this?"

"I sneak in and snoop around until I find where they keep their prisoners. I blow the shit out of the walls. You guys fly in after that and scoop everyone up. Then we make a fighting retreat to wherever Sets- ...err.. Hecate has stashed herself."

Syaoran nodded, and looked contemplative. "Simple. But it could work. Our role is pretty small in this." Syaoran's eyes shifted to the tall blond-haired man at his side.

"This is more of a personal affair for Ranma," Hikaru stated, his disapproval evident.

I gave Hikaru my best scowl. He meant well, but I was getting tired of his all too clear desire to protect me from myself.

"I said I'd grab all the girls I could, didn't I?"

My answer didn't make Hikaru look any happier.

Hikaru sighed. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but you really don't fully understand what you're risking here. Hell, what I'm risking, Chiba is risking, and even Syaoran is-"

Hikaru suddenly went silent. Syaoran had placed a firm hand on the man's shoulder, and now was gently shaking his head.

"Nigata, he has those he must protect," Syaoran said, as though it explained everything.

In a way, it did. It wasn't how I'd have phrased it, but it carried the essence of my feelings. I had to save Ukyou and Akane. Doing so was not something as simple as merely caring for them or wanting to protect them though. For me, it was as though my soul would die if I didn't pour every breath and ounce of strength into trying. To refuse or back down was against my nature. No matter the risk, it was impossible for me to do so. A Ranma Saotome that could leave Akane and Ukyou to their fate, was no Ranma Saotome at all.

I don't know how much of that Syaoran understood. Hikaru, however, didn't get any of it. I could tell that much from his belligerent expression.

"What will you do if you can't save them?" Hikaru challenged.

I met the dirty-blond's eyes and stared right into them. "My choice, Hikaru. I'll save all the other girls I can. I owe you that much, and I'm too nice to do otherwise. But I won't leave without Akane and Ukyou."

Even if that meant I never leave, I finished internally. Then I broke my gaze with Hikaru. I would waste no more words on that man. No matter what I said, he would never grasp what it was that drove me. Instead, I strode forward on our path, momentarily taking the lead.

I stopped a dozen steps later, and my face transformed into a fierce scowl. We had crossed this intersection thrice already. I twisted to vent my wrath, but froze when a cool, mysterious voice spoke up.

"Twenty more steps."

How I had missed her, I didn't know. A woman with long green hair, a dark miniskirt, and a white seifuku style top was standing in the center of a busy two lane street. She smiled at me knowingly. My mind wobbled at the sight of her. Part of me was saying _I recognize this woman,_ while the rest of me made it quite clear that we had never met.

The green haired woman tapped her key shaped staff of the ground once. Even over the traffic, the soft thud could be heard, as though the blow had been to my head. With a jerk, my thoughts rearranged themselves. Suddenly, I knew who I was looking at. Setsuna. Hecate. Those were the names the woman used.

I wondered briefly, how it was that I had forgotten her distinctive features even while knowing the answer. Then, my thoughts shattered when I noticed something stranger. Setsuna was standing in the middle of a busy city street. She was standing in the street and cars were passing _through_ her.

Setsuna's smile only became more mysterious. "Twenty more steps," she reminded.

With a touch of hesitation, I moved forward, only for the others to brush by. As one they stepped into the Tokyo traffic as though it didn't exist. As I followed, I realized that it didn't. With every step the landscape faded away. The concrete blocks of the side walk transformed into a cobble path. The cross street ahead vanished entirely. Tall buildings that loomed over us turned to fog, and then that fog broke revealing gentle, green slopes sheltered by the shadow of well spaced trees. Wrought iron fence appeared out of nowhere, encircling the hills.

Stunned, I stopped and looked back. Behind me was Akihabara, crowded and bustling. My eyes returned to the fore, light woodland surrounded by an elegant gate. My gaze went higher. Sprawled atop the tallest hill was a western manor. The building's center was that of a castle, with steeples and towers. Branching off from the building were two wings: The eastern wing was blocky, three stories tall, and evoked the image of a Japanese school. To the west was a squat, elongated arm that stretched out, looking tagged on to the otherwise artistic structure.

This was the Pretty Princess Institute.

"The fence is the boundary of Artemis's dominion," Setsuna explained. "All within it, the hills, the trees, and the school itself are things she has willed into existence. Everything you see here is the product of her shuken."

Setsuna faced me when I stopped beside her. Her ruby eyes met my own and gave nothing away. I looked to the side a second later and focused instead on the school.

"Neat," I said. "But where the hell did all this come from?"

"The Pretty Princess Institute exists within a locked space. The path you walked acts as a key, allowing entrance to this place. Simple, but sufficient to dissuade casual visitors. The only passage to Artemis's realm is through that gate."

I nodded, and peered through the iron bars. No guards on the other side. I didn't see anyone hanging around the school either. I was a bit surprised. With Setsuna and her two similarly uniformed companions, Uranus and Neptune I presumed, our group was up to eight. I would have thought a gathering of that size would have attracted at least a little attention.

"They've got crappy security," I noted.

"Your presumption is reasonable, but not entirely correct," Setsuna countered. "While the space beyond is Artemis's realm, the space we stand in now is mine. A bubble over a bubble. An impenetrable fortress that only allies can reach. But this realm comes with consequence. While we stand here, within my space, we see only a fragment the Institute's truth."

I nodded, and did my best make sense of that information. "So, I take it that means somebody could be standing on the other side of the fence and we'd never know?" I gazed again past the gate, with new appreciation of the dangers that lay beyond. "Heh, and here I was thinking this might be too easy."

"Correct," Setsuna answered. An enigmatic smile crossed her lips. "However, there is a second advantage we possesses. Artemis's realm is also a prison. As I am a warden, I am allowed special privileges."

Setsuna punctuated her speech by tapping her staff on the grass beside the cobble road. All at once, the world began to spin. The gate vanished to my left, the fence blurring into transparent darkness as the iron bars lost distinction. The manor turned more slowly, twisting until it's back faced us. All the while the ground underneath my feet stood still, even as the grass less than an arm's reach away flashed past in rolling hills.

Then, as quick as it started, the rotation stopped. Setsuna tapped her staff a second time, and solid iron fence started to twist. The low brick wall tore itself apart forming a frame, and metal bars stretched out into a welcoming arch.

"This will be our entrance," Setsuna said. "More importantly, as long as I stand within this realm I can open a portal for you anywhere along the Institute's fence. While you undertake your task, Uranus and Neptune will remain with me, stepping out as necessary to provide covering fire to anyone fleeing the Institute."

Bereft of an answer, I scratched the back of my head. Guilt nagged at me. At yesterday's brunch, I had gotten angry at the minor role Setsuna had taken. But my impressions had been wrong. There was nothing minor about the support Setsuna was offering. She had single handedly reversed a major tactical disadvantage.

Yeah, she wasn't taking any real risk, but I had been a bastard for not appreciating her support.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I looked away. To tell the truth, I was a little uncomfortable with the level of help I was getting.

With nothing left to say, I took a few steps forward and gazed through the fence and at the building on the hill. The Pretty Princess Institute. Akane. Ukyou. I was here now, ready to free the girls who had been kidnapped in Furinkan. I hoped I wasn't too late. I closed my eyes and imagined what I would do if, like Kodachi, they were enemies I had to defeat.

Yeah. If it came to that the answer was clear. I'd take them down and drag their asses out, kicking and screaming.

With renewed focus, I opened my eyes and drowned myself in the whirl of tactics. While the front entrance had been relatively open, the back gate was hidden by loosely grouped trees. The cover was far from good, but it would probably be enough assuming that the PPI didn't run constant patrols.

There would be guards of some sort. Sure, the Institute was a school, but the students weren't willing participants. They would need a few good men... err.. women to keep things in line. Also, the Institute had enemies. Enemies like me. There was even a chance that Artemis was aware of Setsuna and her ability to attack from any direction.

Patrols. Guards. A defensible building. How would I approach? The trees were obvious. If I got up and into branches, the cover would be pretty good. That would get me close. Close enough to cross the last bit of open ground. From there, the roof, assuming it was clean. Once atop the Institute I could get in through the windows, if they weren't locked. If they were, well, I could risk compromising my stealth by cutting a hole through the roof.

After that, my plan got real simple. Floor by floor, room by room, I would search the Institute while trying to remain unseen. I'd start with the east-wing, mostly because it looked like a school. After that, the center and then the west-wing. Assuming I found Akane and Ukyou, then, bang, I'd blow out the nearest walls and start taking down girls until the calvary arrived.

Easy enough.

Shifting my weight, I let the duffel bag swing off my shoulder. I set the bag on the ground and grabbed the zipper. Avenues of failure continued to assault me. How thick were the walls? What if I couldn't break them? Hmm. If it came to that, I break the windows instead. If I fired a few ki blasts into the air I was sure to get Hikaru's attention.

I opened the duffel bag and cringed. Folds of bright, glittering pink and white cloth popped out. My cheeks burning, I quickly shifted my body to block the bag from the sight of the others. It was a stupid reaction, they'd all see the pool of frills, ribbons, and lace that were the bag's contents soon enough.

I glared at the dress that was shoved inside for a long moment. Yeah, I should have treated it better. Folding the dress poorly would only make tenki harder. I didn't regret the decision, though. It was a small, petty vengeance against an inanimate object, but it made me feel better.

For a moment, delusion hit me again. I didn't need tenki. I was strong enough on my own. If everything went right, I wouldn't have to fight anyway. Besides, things were looking up. Setsuna had tilted the odds further to my side than I had anticipated, and we had one more gun than I had been expecting.

But, the key words were, _if everything went right_. Things _never_ went right. Hell. For me that was practically a law of nature. In all my life, I couldn't think of a single exception. The neko-ken, Jusenkyo, Herb, Saffron, even the time I spent with my mother. Things went wrong. It was a guarantee. That I survived all the crap life threw at me was a product of my strength, my ingenuity, and a good bit of luck.

Too much luck. I understood that now. Watching Akane come so close to death at the hands of Saffron had awoken me to the fact that things could go wrong _permanently_. I could die. Akane could die. Ukyou could die.

More than anything, that was the root of my decision. This rescue plan was a gamble, and it was a gamble I couldn't afford to lose. Tenki would do a lot to shift the odds in my favor at a price of introducing new risks. But those new risks affected only me, and I was more willing to put myself in danger than Ukyou and Akane.

So, the bag remained unzipped.

I reached inside and past the thick cloth of the dress. Fumbling around for a few seconds I found my target, a plastic bottle of water. I pulled off the cap and stared at the crystal liquid with a grim expression. Then I tilted the container and dumped it on the back of my neck.

I shivered at the cold water's touch as the change swept over me. There was no sensation to mark it. That had always seemed strange to me. Before Jusenkyo, I would have thought a metamorphosis from male to female would have been an unmistakable event. Instead, I had found that it was easy to miss the alteration altogether despite the eight centimeters of height I lost and the rather large pair of knockers Jusenkyo added to my chest.

Change complete, I started stripping my clothes. The red Chinese shirt was halfway over my head when two pairs white gloved hands seized me by the elbows and dragged me two dozen paces into a tent. I struggled against their grip the whole way, but my heart wasn't in it. It was only once I was in the tent that I was able to get the shirt the rest of the way over my head and see my captors. Uranus and Neptune.

"A lady should be more modesty," the sailor girl with pale green hair chided.

"Not that lacking modesty is a bad thing," the second sailor added.

The second sailor girl had short cropped blond hair and was leaning on my shoulder while leering down at my naked breasts. I jerked away from the girl and, feeling a bit awkward, obscured the organs with my forearm.

"In case you missed the transformation, I'm a guy," I snapped.

I glowered at the pair. I didn't like being treated as a girl, or worse, being expected to act like one. Two years of my curse had done little to change that.

The girl with pale green hair had an amused smile. "Now, now. A girl's charms are a special kind of magic, and shouldn't be shared so easily, lest they lose their power. That's true even if the girl in question is really a boy."

"I don't mind if you share your charms with me," the blond interjected, flashing a predatory smile.

The pale haired girl's teal eyes turned dangerous and focused on her companion, "Uranus, that isn't where your eyes belong."

The blond, Uranus, left my side and sauntered up to her partner. Uranus then wrapped an arm around the green haired girl's waist and pulled her close.

"If you want my eyes on you, Neptune, you'll have to offer something more enticing," Uranus teased.

_Smack!_ With a sharp movement, Neptune slapped the blond haired girl. "I most certainly will not," Neptune snapped. Then her voice became quiet. "Not in public, and not tonight if you can't control yourself."

A sly smile crossed the blond's face. "Tomorrow, then?"

"Incorrigible," Neptune huffed before dragging her companion out of sight.

I stared and wondered what an appropriate reaction to a scene like that was. In the end, I shrugged and glanced around the canvas tent. It was big, with more than enough room for a couple of people to walk around in, but otherwise empty. Last time I checked, there hadn't been a tent outside the Institute's gates, so for there to be one now meant Setsuna must have magicked it up. I pondered that briefly, then gave another shrug, and started stripping. It wasn't as though I cared.

All my clothes, even the boxers, gathered in a pile on the nylon covered ground. After that I turned back to the open duffel bag. It was laying just off center of the tent. I hadn't seen which of the sailor girls had brought it in, but I wasn't going the complain about the convenience of not having to get it myself.

Stooping down, I began the task of unpacking. The clothes were set to the side, unfolded and organized. It was only once those were free that I gained access to my real targets. A small, cheap, hand mirror and a rectangular box stuffed with sweet tarts.

I paused to catch sight of myself in the mirror. A night had done a lot to blunt the effects of Chiyo's magic. Yesterday, when I had visited the grotesque boutique, Angelic Pretty, my hair had been streaked with pink and had teased my shoulder blades with the lengthened strands. Now, my hair had lost several centimeters in length, so that it was only marginally longer than that of my male form. The pink had faded further as well, vanishing into washed out highlights.

That would change.

My fingers grasped the top of rectangular sweet tart box, my nails slipping under cardboard and then prying it open. Lifting the box, I tilting back my head and poured the colorful, candies into my mouth. _Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. _My jaw worked hard to break up a mouthful of solidified sugar. Each bite unleashed a burst sweetness, and soaked up my saliva. Mouth drier than a desert, I gulped several times to swallow the contents, the powdered remains sticking to my throat. Desperately, I fumbled for the water bottle, ripped open the top, and drained it with one long swig.

"Ah," I let out in a breath of relief from the rush of cool liquid. Then I scowled down at the empty plastic container, and cringed at the half empty container of sweets. Bravely, opened my mouth and filled it once more. I chewed slowly this time, waiting for the rush of saliva to wet the absorbent sugar.

As I chewed, I watch myself in the mirror. Slowly at first, and then with a quickening pace, the effects of Chiyo's magic renewed.

In less than a minute thin streaks of pink swelled until the glittery streams washed away the bright red of my hair. The strands stretched and lengthened as my jawline softened, making my facial structure more delicate. Other changes swept through my body. Calloused hands, rough and hardened from years of intense martial arts training, turned to tender flesh. Scars, most little more than faint streaks of white, smoothed into unblemished skin. My prized musculature lost its concreteness though, I hoped, little if any of its strength.

From cute to cuter, more than anything that was the nature of the changes Chiyo had wrought. I could grudgingly admit that there was some enhancement, but I wasn't fond of it. Strong, sexy, and athletic had given way to adorable, fragile, and feminine. That wasn't the direction of my preferences. Then again, the foundational concept of the megami no ooi was already foreign to my nature. I had little room to complain, for all that I might despise it, the changes wrought by Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon had given me an enormous head start.

I glanced at myself one last time using the mirror, then tossed it into the bag. The now empty box of sweet tarts joined it. I eyed a second box for a moment, then decided I didn't need it. The candy I had consumed had engendered the necessary shift in my aura, and, with the vestiges of drugged happiness already bubbling at the edges of my mind, I didn't want to risk further alteration. If I let myself go too far, I might be overcome entirely. Perhaps worse were the potential side affects of attempting tenki while within the grip of Chiyo's mental changes.

I shook my head and snapped my thoughts free. Instead, I turned my eyes to the clothes laid out on the ground. I grimaced slightly, but smothered the emotions while I took the time to get dressed.

Piece by piece, I assembled the ensemble. Undergarments, woven of frail fabrics, were slipped into place. I unrolled long, pearly white stockings around my toes and up my legs before securing them in place with the belts of the garter. Next, I pulled the dress of white cloth, pink ribbons, and plentiful lace, over my head, setting it firmly into place before starting the arduous task of tying the two dozen ribbons that held it into place. Last of all, I added the requisite makeup.

I paused then, staring down into the bag. Then, suddenly I smirked. With a flick of my wrist, Michiko's glasses teleported out of a sleeve. Daintily, I placed them on my nose. Might as well enjoy my new toy.

Picking up the hand mirror once more, I double checked myself. I looked exactly as I had imagined, disgustingly sweet. The dress I had chosen was over-the-top in a girly-girly kind of way. It didn't quite work with my complexion, either. I had a long way to go before I was ready to challenge Tsubasa to another cuteness contest. Hmm... should of gone with blue. I'd have to remember that next time.

A shudder ran down my spine. No next time. Never, ever, ever.

Satisfied, I discarded the mirror for the second time. Then I closed my eyes and took several long breaths to refocus my thinking. Everything up to this point was easy. What came next was far more terrifying.

Tenki.

The technique made me nervous, and for good reason. Tenki would change me physically and spiritually. That was scary enough, but what really had me scared was that I didn't know if I could pull it off.

Now, I wasn't a complete fool. I had spent a good bit of yesterday, cooped up in the warehouse Hikaru called headquarters, training. I'd learned the steps. I had burned hours forming and reforming my megami no ooi, helped along by a pastry induced sugar high. Afterwards, I had tried my hand at haigeki and shuken, the twin arts of wrapping an object with my aura, and then imposing my will upon it either by rejecting that which did not match, or empowering that which did.

There hadn't been a whole lot of time, but it had been enough to get me comfortable with the techniques.

Tenki, however, I hadn't dared to try. I was certain that, after last night, I knew how to pull it off. The principles behind it were simple enough. All I had to do was apply haigeki and shuken to myself with enough spiritual pressure and in the right proportions, and then I would 'transform' into a brand new, magical girl Ranma.

Of course, saying it was simple was a deception. Surgery is also simple. Cut only what needs to be cut, connect only what needs to be connected, and stitch only what needs to stitched. Stick to that, and finish before the patient bleeds to death, and everything will work out. Easy.

Easy. Only a madman would think that.

Tenki was similar. In the warehouse I had used both haigeki and shuken on target objects to test the technique. The most memorable of my experiments had involved nothing more than a crumbled up note with a dubious translation. The result had been... disturbing.

I had watched my chicken scratches straighten, the newly legible words reforming into an elegant script punctuated by cutesy hearts. Crumbles and creases vanished, only to be replaced by a pair of crisp folds. The lines that delineated the page crawled to the sides and rewove themselves into a pretty, pink border of vines and flowers.

Then, I had released the technique.

What came next told me everything I needed to know. Tiny tears opened in the paper, blackened, then curled. The ink bled, my scribbles blurring into unreadable blots as the lines restored themselves only partially to their prior existence. The borders faded into discolored water marks. The original page was rendered unrecognizable.

It was all too easy to imagine the same happening to me. My liver, ripping itself apart. Arteries forming tears that spurted blood out internally. The valves of my heart becoming misaligned. Tenki could kill. Even if it didn't kill, it transformed. The pink of the paper hadn't fully faded. If I used tenki, my soul would be stained by the effect. Forever.

My health, at least, I could guard. I had looked up the addresses of the nearest hospitals, and had resolved that when I released the technique, I would be standing in an emergency room already surrounded by doctors. My spirit, I could do nothing about, but a single tenki shouldn't cause changes that were more than irritating. My curse, however, was something I truly feared for. Who knew how those magics would interact? Turning myself into a magical girl was practically a request for the gods to make me female, permanently.

The risks of tenki were enormous. But so were its powers. Tenki would massively improve the potency of my spiritual techniques. Ikisasu would be amplified in its effectiveness and rendered strong enough to shred through auras like a hot knife through butter. I would gain the same invincibility as my foes, and an empowered aura which would passively resist the intrusive magic of my enemies, granting me resistance to Kodachi's poisons, and Akina's lullaby.

With tenki I would be superior offensively and defensively. That was exactly what I needed to win this fight.

So tenki it was. My decision was made. The time for hesitance and rethinking had ended. Through tenki, I would transfer the dangers and risks of this operation to myself, and in doing so improve the odds of saving Akane and Ukyou. That was all there was to it.

Time to begin.

I drew breath. Warm air flooded my lungs with the scent of greenery before flowing deep into my bronchial system. A million microscopic sacs expanded. Oxygen was exchanged for carbon dioxide. With it came ki, raw life force, thick and vibrant born directly from my core. It condensed inside me, saturating my breath so that when it poured forth, it did so in a seething mist filled with glowing particulate.

Ki pooled at my feet. New tendrils joined it. Worms of spirit force that wiggled up and out of the pores of my skin. The gathering aura crackled as the sources joined, forming an atmosphere that glided around me. I exhaled again. The aura grew more intense. Brilliant sparks manifested, shooting across the creases of my clothes, and rippling through my hair. Clouds formed around me, a murky storm of pink, punctuated with flashes of my normal blue hue. It was a tainted nimbus, a distortion made real by the magic I wove.

My face scrunched in distaste and then, instead of breathing out, I breathed in. I drank my own aura. It stank of sweat and was poisoned by a sickening tartness. Ki, polluted by Chiyo's power, burned my throat and lungs. My inner spirit reacted instantly, treating the intruder like nuclear waste. It launched in all out attack, burning away the invading ki with its greater power.

I made it stop. I forced my body to accept the distorted energies. I devoted myself to aiding the invader. I felt my soul twist under the force. I twisted it further.

All at once, the shroud of storm broke. Thick clouds dissipated into sparkles of white light. Tempest opened into sky, and my spirit cleared into a placid lake of crystal pink. Tension slipped from me, and I took this rare chance to let myself relax. I didn't wait long, the kink I had put in my soul grated on me.

Tedious described the next step. Appearances aside, the megami no ooi I had formed was well short of the quality demanded by tenki. Overcoming that obstacle required intense concentration. I had to will my spirit into place, fixing the tiny flaws, and adjusting my megami no ooi closer to perfection. There was no science to this technique, not for me. It was nothing more than tweak, and tweak some more until my aura resonated with the concept of physical beauty I had embraced.

Minutes past. I made changes, only to watch older ones slip through my fingers, again and again. It was frustrating, but I didn't allow that emotion to grip me. I pressed on until finally I reached it, the sweet spot. There was no mistaking the moment as anything else. What else could a sudden burst of glittering white hearts and pretty pink petals formed from my ki be?

I allowed myself to relax a second time and paid the price. Distaste marred the beauty of my face, and the megami no ooi so alien to my soul shattered. I grimaced, and the refocused myself. I buried my emotions in a soul of ice before trying again. This time the technique held.

There was no time to pause after this step. While retaining enough concentration to hold my megami no ooi in place, I now dedicated myself to the final step. I reached inside. Deep inside, hunting down the darkest pieces of my soul. From there I dredged up hatred, revulsion, and memories of all the things I despised. I took those emotions, distilled them into abhorrence, and then empowered them with my ki. The irony was tangible. Haigeki, the power to reject all things that did not match the beauty of my megami no ooi, fueled by my aversion to the same.

Against my will and my better judgment I hesitated. It was impossible not to. This was truly my final chance to back down. My hands shook with the importance of that moment, nervousness and fear running rampant. The power of haigeki was poised above my heart, and with a single thought I could slay myself.

I absorbed that preponderance, and rejected my own existence.

Haigeki, turned upon me with a puritanical zeal. It judged everything that defined me and found it wanting. Spiritual power met flesh and tore it apart. I had dipped myself in napalm and set it alight. For the briefest moment the torment of haigeki eclipsed consciousness, and my megami no ooi wavered. With grit, I ground my teeth and I renewed my focus. I would not be mastered by pain. Suffering was an old enemy, practically a friend, and Pop had often forced me to operate through torture only marginally less excruciating.

Nevertheless, what I did next was quite possible the hardest thing I had ever done. While in the throes of haigeki I refocused my will and prepared haigeki's opposite, shuken. To fuel shuken, the incarnate of dominion, I drew upon my most familiar of emotions: absolute confidence. I allowed shuken to build inside even as flesh blackened. Holding it. Feeding it. Nurturing it. Letting it grow to a crescendo. Then I set it free.

The first touch of shuken was like being dunked in cold water after a long hot day. Where haigeki was fire and pain, shuken was healing balm easing my wounds. Pain dulled and vanished as shuken flooded broken cells and reassembled what haigeki had destroyed. Two powers, opposite in nature, worked hand and hand. One, haigeki, tore apart the fortress call Ranma Saotome, the other, shuken, used the discarded stone to build a princess's palace in its stead.

In that respite, I pondered what tenki looked like. Was I, right now, undergoing a stereotypical magical girl transformation? At this moment my body was literally being reconstructed, so it wasn't impossible. I never got a chance to find out however, because right then the relief of shuken ended.

The healing chill of shuken changed in a single moment. What was once a blessed force grew treacherous and disgusting. Shuken no longer healed, instead it was a putrid ooze seeping into my open wounds. The slime crawled in through broken flesh, spreading toxic tendrils through muscle and then penetrating into my veins. The intruder flooded me, coating my insides, supplanting my organs with twisted mockeries. This was shuken's truth. A poison that changes. A force that dominates. The will to impose falsehood over truth.

Haigeki was bliss in comparison.

I hated it. Haigeki was fire, pain, and destruction, but shuken _polluted. _ Shuken evoked in me a primal rejection. That hatred served to magnify haigeki. New pain surged as my destruction proceeded at a faster clip. Captured within this torment, shuken became the healer once more, and I longed desperately to be wrapped within its arms, and that longing became truth as the emotion empowered shuken further allowing it to hurtle ahead of the destructive force called haigeki.

And so the cycle continued. No longer was my will involved the process. I had no thoughts beyond the momentary torture of haigeki and the horrors of shuken. It did not matter. I had passed the turning point. Even without me willing it, haigeki and shuken continued their relentless work, never stopping and never yielding until perfection was reached. My magic was now a force in and of itself, a black hole that inescapably consumed, and consumed, and consumed...

... and then, nothing remained.

Ranma Saotome was dead. I, Ranma Saotome, killed him.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia**

_**Two-hundred-thousand yen**_ – Approximately 2,000 dollars (us). A tidy sum, especially to a poor martial artist like Ranma. It is more than enough to purchase a rather expensive outfit and have plenty of money left over. For a fairly wealthy adult like Setsuna however, that sum of money wouldn't be especially large.

**_Red Thread of Fate_** – An Asian myth. This myth states that two individuals destined to be married are tied together by a red thread of fate. The notion is similar to the western idea of 'soul mates'. Hikaru references this indirectly, by saying that he is bound to Chiyo by the 'red shackles of fate'.

_**Akihabara**_ – A district of Tokyo, famous for the high concentration of electronic and anime related goods. Appears often within anime and manga.

**_Jian_** – A Chinese doubled-edged longsword.

**_Ofuda_** – A paper talisman. In anime and manga these are commonly used as a base for anti-demon magics and other onmyoji / shinto priest style powers.

**Characters**

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

**_Syaoran Li_**_ [Resistance]_ – Husband of Sakura Li, and from the canon Card Captor Sakura, though it has been many years since the card captor days. Syaoran is a skilled (by _normal_ terms) martial artist, but only has moderately superhuman physical capabilities. He is a powerful wizard and is one of those rare humans that is a natural at true priest techniques.

Syaoran and Hikaru have known each other for years, and between the two of them they run the 'magical girl underground railroad'. Usually Syaoran only handles transport and settlement, but on occasion he has offered direct assistance against the PPI. Syaoran has a personal beef with the PPI for forcing his wife to flee Japan, but is more interested in raising his two little children than fighting a war.


	5. Siege

**Author's Forward –** This release is a bit behind schedule. You can thank my Skyrim obsessed beta reader for that. Thankfully, things didn't go too far off course.

Those of you that watch my profile might have noticed that progress has gone to a standstill. The cause is that the next few chapters are _huge_ and were edited only once. I had to double back and give them a nice polishing. Given holiday disruptions, I guesstimate that I'll be back to writing new chapters around February.

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 5: Siege**

-oOo-

The sudden absence of sensation was dizzying. No longer did I burn with the inferno of haigeki or drown in the sludge of shuken. That intensity had vanished along with last scraps of my soul. Yet, I could not help but remain cognizant of their existence. Within me, haigeki and shuken persisted. Like the smoldering embers left by a fire, they waited, ready to gobble up the slightest imperfection that dared defile their shrine.

That awareness should have felt unnatural, but, to the twisted me that had been recreated from the remnants of Ranma Saotome, both haigeki and shuken belonged. My ki flowed with their presence, and my aura flexed with an ease I had never before experienced. I felt... perfect. It was as though my entire life was one long road that led to this moment. This new Ranma Saotome, forged by tenki, was the person I was meant to be. It felt so good, so right, that I wanted to stay like this... forever.

My guts wrenched as though I had swallowed something rotten. A girl forever. How? How could I think such a thing? No. I couldn't allow this. I had made a mistake. I had to change back, right now, before the allure of tenki overwhelmed my sense of self. Hysteria swallowed my thoughts. I reached out and grasped the threads of haigeki and shuken. My whole body shuddered as I prepared to unravel what I had become.

_Suicide._

That frigid, rational thought pierced my panic. Coldness eclipsed emotion and I could think again. Releasing tenki was suicide. Only minutes ago, I had torn my body asunder with haigeki then welded the fragments together with shuken. Without tenki, I would be on the floor bleeding.

There was no turning back. I was saving Akane and Ukyou as a magical girl, or I wasn't saving them at all.

I repeated those thoughts in my head, using them to banish my fears. Terror receded and in its place grew a fragile calm. What was done was done. Tenki was complete. The consequences of my choice were something I could deal with later.

Worries safely repressed, I counted up the damage I had dealt myself.

I wiggled my fingers and toes. I kicked my legs and rolled my hips. I formed an aura. I strained my abilities both physical and metaphysical. Everything worked. My motions were smooth and my ki flowed freely. Sure, it glowed pink instead of blue, but it still _worked_.

Which meant it was time for the real test.

With the toe of my shoe I flipped the hand mirror up into the air. I caught it, wrapped the object with my aura, and rejected its existence with raw haigeki.

Pale, pink light pulsed and the mirror burst. Shards of glass and plastic scattered through the tent and a silvery film puffed out in a cloud of confetti. I marveled at the ease of it. Ki had answered my will effortlessly.

Amused by my prior experiment I attempted haigeki's opposite, shuken.

The result was magic.

Plastic pieces, hued in fading pink, leaped up into the air, and gathered in my hand. Pale threads stretched between the remaining fragments in a spiderweb. Handful by handful it seized the discarded pieces and pulled them together. The jigsaw puzzle assembled itself in seconds then, as though the components were liquid, melded into a whole. The hand mirror was restored.

Except, the mirror I now held was not the same as mirror I shattered. Just as I had been reconstructed in the image of my megami no ooi, so too was the mirror. Plain, beige plastic was now metallic pink and embellished with floral decorations. The glass surface had been wiped clean so that the splotches of dirt that had dotted it before did not mar the surface.

Personally, I liked old mirror better.

Still, I couldn't help but grin. Magic. It wasn't proper to call it anything else, but this magic was _ki_. The sheer idea of it made me giddy. To be able to wield ki so freely opened up whole new worlds. In my travels, Pop and I had encountered dozens of esoteric arts that had eluded us. Wizardry, mysticism, specializations that required a dedication as intense as what I had given the martial arts, all were now within my reach.

Power like this made anything possible.

Then, it all came crashing down. This power had a price. To use it, I had to be a magical girl. Not just for a moment, but for the rest of my life.

That was a price I wasn't willing to pay.

... or was I?

I shivered again and looked into the mirror to change my train of thought.

Magic, it seemed, had a better fashion sense than I did. The saccharine offense to sensibility I had inflicted upon myself had been repainted with the strokes of a master. In terms of style and depiction, I was unchanged. The effect, however, had been elevated from realm of childish cosplay and into the world of aristocratic elegance.

Twin rivers of glistening pink brushed my hips, silken curtains tied back by stylish satin ribbons – black with white lace and bejewelled by crystals of amethyst. My new, lighter, complexion complemented the coloring of my dress, which now consisted of pinks both deep and pale. Ruffles, ribbons, bows, streamers, and gossamer frills, again in black and white, added contrast, diversity, and distinction.

The conservative style of my dress had given way to alluring. My skirt had shortened dramatically, ending well above my knees. Cleavage, once hidden, was now exposed. It was pinch of spice amongst the sweetness of my costume, a temptation that pressed the border between wanton and proper.

But, what I fixated on, was my face.

My lips, delicate arches brushed with color and gloss. My cheeks and chin, those of an angel sculpted by an artisan. My eyes, jewels set betwixt dark lashes and framed by glasses of metallic pink.

I stared for a long time, failing to recognize that the girl reflected was me.

It was more than mere appearances. The character I exuded had changed. Rough motions had been refined into girlish gestures. My posture and presence reeked of ladylike charm. It was a tiny change, but as small as it was it obliterated the boundary between truth and illusion.

I was no longer a tomboy playing the princess, but rather a princess who had stopped playing the tomboy.

And that gave birth to a new worry. Tenki had altered the way I moved. Could I, as a magical girl, still fight? In retrospect, I had been foolish of me to overlook that possibility. Tenki was built on a megami no ooi, an aspect of beauty. It reinforced that aspect with amplified spiritual strength. What would happen then if that aspect included notions like 'cute', 'clumsy', or 'fragile'? The answer was obvious. In such a case my spiritual strength would turn against me if I engaged in something unfeminine, like fighting.

A gilded cage. I wondered how many girls had found themselves trapped in exactly that.

Nervously, I started a kata, and quickly found points of resistance. When using my most brutal and forceful styles, my speed and strength were reduced by a tenth.

Whew. It'd be annoying, but I could work around that. My preference was for speed and finesse in the first place.

I practiced a bit longer to work out the kinks. As I did so I noticed other things. My fluttering skirt displaced air like usual but produced no drag. Dangling earrings danced with my motions but never caught nor tangled. Most impossible of all was my shoes. Tenki had turned my flats into a pair of ten centimeter heels. Heels that should have killed the flex of my ankles and shortened my stride, costing speed and agility. Heels that, in defiance to physics, imparted no disadvantage.

Somewhat disgusted by the utter waste of magic, I brought practice to a close. I stuffed my duffel bag with my discarded clothes and zipped it shut. Catching my image one last time, I flashed myself a smirk. The result wasn't even half as condescending as normal, but the unadulterated arrogance of Ranma Saotome shone through.

Good. Anything less wouldn't be proper.

I stepped from the tent and into the light.

-oOo-

When I stepped through the gates the land shifted. Hills swelled and fell as much as a meter in height. The earth skewed to the sides as the breadth stretched and shrank. Trees squirmed, their branches writhing about themselves until they formed new shapes. The buzz of insects assaulted my ears, joined by the twitter of birds. I stumbled, but shuken took hold. Reality rewrote itself and my landing became a graceful drop.

Adrenaline hit. Faster than my mind could adapt the signal _danger_ struck. I went still. Dead ahead was a gaggle of girls. The young ladies were spread out on a blue blanket in a chattering circle. At their sides were a pair of baskets, the tops open, displaying the treats contained inside.

I processed the sight in an instant then kicked into high gear. I skittered to the side and vanished behind a thick trunk. I was a second too slow. A narrow glance revealed one girl rising, her eyes scrutinizing my prior position.

_Whoosh_. Waves transversed my fluffy dress as I took to the air. Hair and ribbons trailed behind. My profile hidden, I flew to the upper branches of the tree, landing so lightly that the leaves failed to sway. I secured myself in the thick foliage and suppressed my presence, cursing the colors of my dress the whole time. Pink was too bright a color for proper stealth.

With tense muscles I watched, ready to dispose of the entire picnic crowd if they tried to raise the alarm.

A brunette in a yellow sundress approached the tree I was in. She set a hand on the trunk and leaned forward to peer out and into the woods.

She never looked up.

"What are you looking at, Aya?" another girl asked.

Aya, the brunette, abandoned her search and pivoted in her patent leather shoes. Her dress swayed with the motion. "Nothing," Aya answered. "I thought I saw someone, that's all."

With that the picnic resumed, five girls sipping tea, nibbling cookies and sharing gossip and laughter. I let out a breath, closed my eyes for a long moment, and contemplated. If I moved I'd almost certainly be seen, it was pure luck I hadn't been spotted already. I couldn't out wait the girls either, they were set for a very long lunch.

Should I risk it? I grimaced and weighed Akane and Ukyou against a half hearted promise. No. I couldn't. Sorry Pop. I offered up the silent apology to my father and cloaked myself within the Umisenken.

Only, it didn't work as planned. The ghostlike aura of the umisenken clashed with vibrancy of my megami no ooi. The nature of the techniques were too different. The umisenken called for a non-presence, an aura that subtly exuded _ignore me_. In a way, it was embracing the spirit of Gosunkugi and raising it to the nth degree.

But, my megami no ooi was reversed in polarity. It was beauty born in part from my arrogance and self confidence. My aura was one that begged to be looked upon.

Eyes scrunched in concentration I wrestled with the technique. Eventually I forced my spirit into a middle ground. The result was a lesser form of ki based stealth, that didn't come close to the nigh-invisibility granted by the umisenken. But, if I was correct in my assumptions, it would still be enough to make eyes slide off me as though I didn't exist. To tell the truth, the result was probably more than good enough, but to my trained perfectionism it was a badly botched solution.

Obscured by ki and hidden by stealth I flitted amongst the trees and away from the girls. I paused after gaining a good bit of distance and glanced back at the gate from whence I came.

The portal was gone. In its place was a brick wall as tall as my waist topped by iron bars thrice again higher. Beyond was Tokyo. The city that I saw was silent and empty. From the Institute I could not see the hustle and bustle that lay hidden, just as I couldn't see the girls picnicking from within Setsuna's bubble.

I considered returning and warning Hikaru. If Setsuna was to be believed, it would be easy enough. All I'd need to do was walk to the fence, and another gate would open for me. I looked back at the girls and, a moment later, snorted with contempt. No point. If Hikaru and crew could not crush wimps like those, then nothing I did or said would be able to help them.

I turned my back on the picnic and flew through the light forest that surrounded the Pretty Princess Institute. The woods broke after a quarter of a kilometer, opening into an empty expanse that stretched almost a fifty meters. There was no cover. The few perfectly trimmed shrubs that broke the green grass were so short that I'd have to squat to hide behind them. Even then, I would remain exposed to any girl that so much as glanced out the second or third story windows.

Frowning, I tapped the rim of Michiko's glasses. Each press cycled the zoom feature causing the rooftops to leap closer. I swept my gaze across the building's top and found no guards. Nodding to myself I killed the zoom and fiddled an expanded list of selectors. One last touch and the glasses came alive. Orange ghosts made themselves apparent, the faded shapes of girls sheltered behind the school walls.

I waited. Girls moved through the halls in pairs and triplets in low traffic. I waited some more. There! A break.

Seizing the moment I dropped from my perch. Calves and thighs constricted. Muscles exploded with strength. I shot forward. I crossed the emerald lawn in a flash, my body nearly horizontal. Gravity fought to plant my face into the turf while I kept myself aloft with the thrust of each step. With my weight so far forward, I had no traction. I made do by piercing the earth with the toe of my shoes and shoving forward with enormous strength. The earth tore in my wake. Each step ripped hunks of sod from the ground and threw it backward.

In the blink of an eye I had reached the Institute's wall. My wild dash didn't slow. Instead, I threw my weight upward, jumping off the ground and then off the wall. My legs strained with effort required to redirect my momentum and concrete cracked beneath my feet. Then I was flying high into the air.

My ascent did not stop at the building's three story height. Instead, I rose twice again higher, floated for a moment at the peak of the arc, then landed silently on the roof.

My head jerked to either side. No unwanted companions. I checked the woods. Nobody was pointing at the weird girl who had jumped atop the Institute's roof. Good.

I crouched low so that I was out of sight and gave myself time to relax.

Next came the hard part. The Pretty Princess Institute was big. The eastern, school-like wing, on which I stood, had three floors. Attached was a central building that stretched a story higher. Further to the west was a long, squat extension with only a single floor. As a whole, the Institute was large enough to serve a thousand.

And that was accounting for the fact that this was a boarding school.

The east wing was nearly as broad as Furinkan, again giving me the impression that this was where the girls were held. Here, I imagined, would be the kitchens, gyms, class rooms, and maybe even the dorms. Though, the squat building could easily have been reserved for the last. The central building, with its wide domed top, stained glass windows, steeples, and arches was too fancy for the daily life of prisoners. A location like that would be reserved for special gatherings, such as those times where the faculty felt the students needed an extra dose of boredom.

The eastern wing was definitely the place to start. But even knowing that did little to reduce my problems. The east wing itself was huge, and I would have to find Akane and Ukyou within it. Then, the greatest obstacle of all, I had to get them out.

There was, though, one factor that played into my hands: my trump card, Michiko's glasses. Truth be told, I didn't fully understand their limits, but I knew that they could show at least two kinds of auras. First was orange. That was the color Hikaru had been hued with at the mall. It was the color I was shrouded in now. It was also the color of the silhouettes that the shined through the walls. Orange, I was sure, stood for magical girls and those of similar power.

The second color I had seen was green, and that only once. Green had been the color I had been painted with at the mall. I didn't know what green stood for. It could have been for high levels of ki, or it could have been for magic. Thanks to Jusenkyo's curse, both those factors applied to me.

Whatever green stood for, it didn't matter. What was important was that Akane and Ukyou would probably be highlighted in a color other than orange. Which meant that I could use the glasses to spot them through the walls...

Of course, that was assuming that they hadn't been transformed like Kodachi. In that case...

I shut that thought down. I would deal with problems as they showed up and no sooner. Clearing my mind I refocused my attention on the roof. Michiko's glasses showed only a handful of orange figures moving beneath me. Damn. The penetration was less than I had hoped.

Well, it wasn't like I had expected this to be easy.

With the flick of my finger I disabled aura mode. Yes, the ability to spot auras was useful, but aura mode obscured my vision with the ghost girls and distracted with a hundred other useless details. Better to use that feature only when it was needed.

I gave the woods one last look over and nodded to myself. Clear. It's a go, then.

Hooking my ankles around a steeple, I dropped off the edge of the roof. Upside down, I swayed forward and grabbed ahold of a third story window. Then, with a smooth motion, I pulled the glass open, grabbed the top of the frame, and flipped to land inside.

_Click-clop, click-clop, click-clop_. I paused. Two girls, both wearing hard soled shoes, were approaching. Quickly, I reached back and pulled the window shut. Once my entry was concealed, I dived for the first empty office and disappeared from sight. Only a second later, a pair of girls rounded the corner and started crossing the hall I had occupied.

I slid the office door shut without a sound. I waited.

The office I had chosen was surprisingly ordinary. Neat stacks of papers sat on an oak desk, and a computer was positioned to the side. Behind the desk was a black leather swivel chair. The executive seat cut a sharp contrast to the uncomfortable wooden stools that stood in a row to the side of the room. It was easy to imagine unruly students forced to sit on the stools, nervously waiting for the judgment of authority to fall. The oak desk gave name to its owner by means of a bronzed plate. _M.D. Kamiko Ogura_.

Muffled footsteps passed the office with nary a peek. I slipped out into the hallway behind them, and flashed over linoleum tile like a ghost. I tapped the rim of the glasses as I ran and swept my eyes across orange phantoms. Scores of female figures blurred by, but none showed a color other than orange.

It became clear, as I traveled, that the rooms on the third floor were intended for administration and overflow. I passed by rooms used for storage, rooms used for clubs and activities, a laboratory filled with scientific equipment, and a number of offices. I recognized most of the name plates: _Chiyo Mori_, _Akina Ishii, Dr. Michiko Nishimura, and Gondul Skadadottir_, but there were a handful of offices for women I had yet to meet.

It was in a tiny hospital room that I spotted my objective: a dozen girls with colorful auras of light blue, purple, and red. Each of the shades was spattered with splotches of orange and crowned by a ring of green.

A grin spread across my lips. Gotcha.

I backpedaled, retraced twenty steps, and bound over a railing. I allowed myself to fall two meters before grabbing the edge of the third floor. I swung, released, and landed on the second floor in a single motion. Stealthily, I stalked my target, using my glasses to zero in on the colorful auras. It wasn't long before I came upon the wooden door that separated me from the girls inside.

With a flick of my finger, the spectral auras vanished from the surface of my glasses. Carefully, I peered through the vertical window and into the room.

The room was filled with girls all sitting at desks. A classroom, but the clothes the girl were wearing were far from that of a typical Tokyo school girl. Gone were seifukus and skirts. In their place were full ball gowns and elaborate dresses. Satin, silk, and bold colors decorated the ladies within. Sparkling tiaras crowned every head, glittering jewels hung from every ear, and brilliant pendants graced every neck.

I found Ukyou amongst the class, barely recognizable in her dark blue gown. Like the rest she sat studiously facing the front. Her demure behavior wasn't what I had expected. My thoughts stopped for a second and confusion descended. It was cleared away an instant later when I remembered what this school specialized in: brainwashing.

I reached for the door's handle and stopped again. Wait. I had only seen Ukyou. I scoped the room a second time. No Akane. Not that I could see.

I considered. Should I move on? Should I keep searching until I knew for certain where both the girls resided? No. The window revealed only half of the classroom, so there was a decent chance Akane was merely out of sight. Besides, even if Akane wasn't inside, Ucchan probably knew exactly where Akane had been stashed.

And, frankly, I didn't like the idea of leaving Ukyou alone a second longer.

So I kicked down the door.

_Bang!_ Laminated particle board tore from steel hinges, sending chunks of wood and tiny splinters bursting out in a cloud. The heavy door cracked across the center and flew across the room. It wobbled in midair, the two parts flipping and flopping. _Crash! _The broken door hit heavy brick and shattered into jagged strips and shrapnel. Girls raised their arms to shield themselves from the debris.

I paid them no mind. This wasn't a repeat of Furinkan's assault. I chose where the door would fly, and I knew that the little crap it had kicked up wouldn't cause serious injuries. Content in my superior morality, I strode into the room with a cocky strut and a giant smirk.

"Sorry, but class has been canceled on account of an ass kicking and a prison break," I declared with loud authority.

Shocked eyes fixed on me. At the front of the class were Lilac and Akina. Instructors. That much was obvious. Between the two of them lay a girl surrounded by sparkling lights that quickly dissipated. The downed girl let out a wheezing, wet, cough and hacked red droplets onto the floor. I grimaced. Aborted tenki. Hopefully she'd be okay. Internally, I apologized for my stupidity. Then I focused on more important things.

I glanced across the room. No Akane. Damn.

"Excuse me," Akina said, her haughty voice shattering stillness. The woman adopted a relaxed pose, setting a hand on the podium. "But I decide when class ends. So I'm not quite sure what it is you think you're doing here."

I tore my eyes from Akina and focused on Ukyou. I wasn't going to let idol wanna-be set the pace. The more in charge I was, the faster I would get these girls rescuing themselves.

"Ucchan. Grab the girls and head for the gates," I ordered, meeting my childhood friend's eyes. I made a nudging motion with my head toward the front of the class. "I'll take care of the trash."

Ukyou's face was shrouded by confusion that transformed into shock. "Ranchan?"

Akina's violet eyes flickered to me, to Ukyou, and to me once more. Ruby lips curved with mirth.

"Saotome-san," Akina said slowly, as though she found my name pleasing. She scrutinized me from head to foot. "That is certainly a drastic improvement over your prior thuggish look. I approve. Your manners, on the other hand, remain as brutish as ever."

Akina paused and addressed her companion. "Naomi, please escort Saotome-san to Ogura-sensei's office so that she may be properly enrolled."

Lilac, or Naomi as Akina had named her, pulled a violet wand out of thin air. Little petals snapped out of the instrument, forming a blossoming flower. The girl stalked forward, grim faced and threatening. My diaphragm quivered at the sight. It was all I could do to keep giggles from slipping past my lips. Playing the part of the dark suited gangster didn't suit her at all. Her violent expression did nothing but make her cheeks puff out cutely.

Lilac stepped close and placed her flower rod against my neck. "Move," she yipped, sounding rather like a puppy.

I tilted my head to the side, and regarded Lilac with disdain. It was a tricky expression. My megami no ooi was built on smiles and sweetness, and it wanted to replace my sneer with something cuter. To make it work I twisted my spiritual aura, distorting my megami no ooi slightly. The result was... perfection, a queen looking down upon an insect.

Then my scorn transformed into a haughty smirk. Play time was over.

With ruthless efficiency I expanded my aura, wrapped it around Lilac, and rejected. Haigeki squeezed her with the hand of a giant. Lilac's feeble, unschooled shuken splintered when faced with my superior power. In a single instant, I had stripped away her invincibility.

Lilac froze and a dawning awareness began to seep into her eyes. While that confusion reigned I seized her wrist, tugged her off balance, and rotated her joints until they locked. I added the slightest bit of pressure so that the bones strained at the breaking point.

_Clack, cla-clack. _Lilac's flower rod rattled on the floor. Her numbed fingers were splayed open, no longer able to retain their grip. I offered Lilac an apologetic smile, then threw her face first through the wall and into the hall beyond.

_Clap. Clap._ I made a show of brushing off my hands in the dead silent room.

"Ranchan!" Ukyou hissed between clenched teeth.

My eyes jerked back to my friend, who was still sitting in her seat. She glared at me with an expression of thinly masked anger and desperation. The way her shoulders were twitching was disconcerting.

"Kuonji-chan, I don't believe I gave you permission to speak," Akina snapped from the front of the room.

Akina's words hit Ukyou like a hammer. In instant Ukyou went as stiff as a board, her face white and skin waxy. She stood straight for a second, then toppled to the ground, arms and limbs jittering across the floor as a series of spasms wracked her body. Ukyou's lips twisted back in a rictus of agony, a silent scream and all the more horrible for it.

Anger roared, and I twisted to face Akina. A shout exploded through my throat, temporarily dashing aside the dulcet voice tenki had given me.

"What the hell did you do!"

"Discipline. Something you will soon have a first hand experience with," Akina explained. She stepped forward, sliding in front of her podium. "Since it appears Naomi has fallen, I will end this farce."

_Nen-nen korori yo, Okorori yo, _she sang. Soft, silvery notes flowed forth. A tangible wave spread across the room, a haze of air reverberating with the sound. The music wrapped itself around me and my bones began to quiver. Numbness spread through my skin.

Akina's lullaby, I recognized it. I wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice.

I unleashed my aura, and power met power. Akina's weapon wasn't sound but the magic born from her spiritual presence. To counter it, I used the same. I pushed her spirit back with my own. Her shuken pressed into mine, but I dashed her power by rejecting the world she sought to impose. It was a struggle. Akina's magic sought to slip around mine. It formed itself into spikes and drilled into places I left soft. In terms of both skill and power, Akina and Lilac could not be compared.

Weariness sank into me. While I scattered the bulk of Akina's assault, slivers of her song continued to slip through and sap my stamina.

But, that was all the lullaby could do.

"The... tiara."

Ukyou's gasp redirected my attention. Ukyou's brown eyes met mine, chips of adamant will drowning in a sea of pain. I faltered at the sight, then struggled anew to push aside Akina's spell. Ukyou, however, would not let my mind wander. With a strong hand, wrapped in a silken glove, Ukyou grabbed my ankle. Fingers clamped onto my skin, and iron strength conducted the tremble of Ukyou's seizures into me.

Faced with such an intense will, I could not look away.

"... tiara... off!" Ukyou garbled through the agony.

_Bōya wa yoi ko da, Nenne shina~_. The notes of Akina's song cut deeper. I wobbled, my eyelids drooping for a second before I threw off the intrusive magic with a burst of strength. Damn. I shot a look at Akina, who remained at the front of the class, then at Ukyou who's gaze burned up at me. Damn. Damn. Damn. Fine. Ukyou first. I'd just have to bear the lullaby for the time being.

Moving as fast as possible, I stooped down and thrust my fingers through the gaps in the silver headdress. Ukyou's body went rigid at my touch. I could see the muscles of her jaw straining as she ground her teeth together with enough force to crush rock. I reared back and pulled with all my strength.

The tiara did not fly free. Instead, it was Ukyou that was ripped from the ground. The girl flew up into the air. Rising. Rising. Higher until her head, then her waist, then her feet floated above me. She came to a sudden stop, my grip on the tiara preventing further ascent. It was that last jerk that did it. The headdress tore free and with it came clumps of dark hair and slivers of bloody skin.

_Thud! Crash!_ Ukyou landed hard on the flat top of a desk. The table broke under her weight, all four legs cracking from the force of impact.

Dizzily. I pushed against Akina's aura only to find that it had retreated. I put the woman in my peripheral vision and risked focusing on Ukyou instead.

"You okay there, Ucchan?" I asked.

"I'm not dead," Ukyou croaked back. She waved a gloved hand toward the front of the room. "Just... take care of Akina for me, and I'll get the rest of the girls free."

Nodding, I shifted my attention back to my opponent. Akina no longer sang. Instead, she watched me with wary eyes, her ruby lips pressed into a frown.

"To repel my magic with so little training, truly, you are worthy of the Director's interest," Akina observed. An amused smile grew upon her visage. "It seems that I am left with only brutish tactics to subdue a brute. A fitting circumstance, if uncivilized."

I rolled my shoulders and kicked a few desks out of the way. The tables clattered across the room, bowling over their cousins and freeing a path between me and Akina. To the side, Ukyou worked, knees atop of a pinned girl while she wrenched a tiara free. Tears, sobs, and silent screams marked her progress.

"Well, you're in luck," I replied. "Because uncivilized is a language I'm fluent in."

Akina's answer was to place her hands over her navel and draw an incredible breath. Her chest swelled. Her mouth opened wide. I could feel the all the air in the room go still, as though every molecule was waiting for her to sing.

But I moved first. In an instant, I condensed my aura and, with a shout, projected it across the room. Not at Akina, but at the wall behind her. "Moko takabisha!"

A sputtering bullet burst from my hands, lacking any recoil. The ball of blue made it two arms lengths before sparks of pink light ripped their way out of the interior. My ki blast exploded, scattering dense energy in every direction. Watery pellets bounced across the room, thudding off the surfaces with no more power than a tennis ball.

What?

I froze, trying to understand, then the answer hit me. Stupid. Of course my moko takabisha wouldn't work. I didn't have a confidence aura right now so much as a cutesy one.

Akina unleashed a series of percussive notes, crushing my lament. What she uttered was not a song. There were no words. Instead, Akina's celestial voice became an instrument and with it she played music that was fast, violent, and deadly.

The ground exploded around me. Desks shattered into splinters and cement cratered as though struck by a giant hammers. Fists of sound formed in midair then lashed out. Invisible projectiles attacked from every direction, catching me unaware.

In a different world, I would have been flattened in an instant.

In this one, every bullet missed.

Shuken. The same impervious defense that thwarted me so many times now worked in my favor. The moment Akina's attack started, reality bent. Tenki took grasp of my body and made me dance. Effortlessly, I floated between imperceptible sonic bludgeons. There was no intent behind my dodges. Neither will nor awareness were required. Instead, shuken resisted. My aura imposed upon the universe a new law, one that declared with supreme authority: Ranma Saotome can never be hit.

Invincibility.

Above all else, that was the greatest power tenki granted. And now it was mine.

Briefly, anyway.

Akina's attacks were drenched in haigeki. Even when they missed, they struck the citadel of my soul like the shots from a cannon. My aura wavered with every blow and sharp cracks tore through my shuken. My impenetrable defense crumbled under Akina's assault in bare seconds.

But seconds were all I required.

I was neither Lilac nor Carrotcake. I had never learned to rely on tenki as my sole means of defense. I did not need shuken. I already possessed the skill and agility to weave between my enemy's attacks. So, when the invincible defense granted by shuken caved, I was already moving.

I leaped, flipping over the vague distortion that shot through the air. Acoustic bombs flashed by and detonated along the wall behind me. I span in midair, the toe of my heels brushing fragile ceiling tiles. I pulled my body tight and slid between four more shimmering bullets.

My evasions bought me no more than a handful of breaths, but that was all the time I needed. My aura had stabilized and the invincibility of shuken had been restored. I gave my body to the magic, letting it move me through a spray of invisible pulses. My defense could not hold for long. My shuken warped as it struggled to impose fantasy, and pink light sprayed out where Akina's blasts tore gaps through my aura.

For two tense seconds my finger pounded the rims of my glasses and finally found aura mode.

Invisible energy was suddenly hued with a ghostly green.

A sonic bullet clipped my arm, sending reverberating shocks through my bones. I swayed to the side and danced back to avoid the follow up. I quickly noted the three misty balls of green that were forming on every side of me. A trap. One that would have been far deadlier only moments ago. I dived to the side. The pulses released an instant too slow. They flashed through my afterimage and crashed into the floor and walls of the classroom, pulverizing what remained of the room's internal structure. The hall and the adjacent bathrooms now lay exposed to view.

I retreated, but moved slow enough to ensure Akina followed. A sonic shower peppered my wake, reducing the hall to rubble. I made no attempt to reply. My strategic goal was to save Ukyou, and the further from her the fight became, the better chance Ukyou had of escape.

While I ran, I learned. I exposed myself to Akina's assault and discovered the extent of shuken's defense. My magic held against the barrage for no more than three seconds. After that, I needed at least as much time to coerce my aura back into working order. If I waited even longer, shuken would restore itself, but I could not consider that a viable tactic while within the heat of battle.

I studied Akina's attacks. Her sonic bullets came in sets of six. Beyond that, the sky was the limit. She fired her shots with varied beats, in series or parallel. They came from every direction: front, back, left, right, above, and below. The bullets formed wherever Akina willed, the domain of my aura the only boundary she could not breach.

I twisted around a corner and fled down another hall. A symphony of destruction chased after me. It was time to end the chase. Already, I could see the signs of a school rising to the alarm. Soon, allies would rush to Akina's side.

Ukyou had enough breathing room.

In a sudden shift, my retreat became a forward dash. Seven steps sent me rocketing forward. Acoustic bullets met my charge. I ducked and slid underneath. Shuken responded to my will and traction vanished. I coasted over tile as though it were ice. Two pulses passed overhead. Displaced air sucked my pigtails up and into the whirlwind they left behind.

Traction changed. My feet stopped and my body swung forward. I pushed off, flipping into the air and over a third blast that struck low. I twisted acrobatically in flight, rebounded off a wall, and ran along the opposite. The final trio of Akina's sonic series missed.

Open.

With a final leap, I was on her. A high, spinning kick flashed over Akina's head when she dipped low at the last second. The attack, sharpened with a haigeki boosted ikisasu, sliced Akina's aura in two. I floated forward, twirling into an elbow strike. Akina reformed her guard and pulled her aura tight, but my attack slammed into the defense before it was readied and blew her back several steps.

I allowed no respite.

I dived after Akina and peppered her with lightning fast side kicks. The strikes pummeled Akina's arms and eroded her mystical defense into vapor. Heavy blows bruised her limbs, and two kicks slipped through, punishing ribs and abdomen.

Then, just as quickly, I withdrew. I could have dared more, but Michiko's glasses showed a ghastly green haze forming so thickly around Akina that it blocked her normal orange hue. I prepared myself for a counter assault and was not disappointed.

The instant I pulled back, Akina unleashed a deafening scream. It wasn't so much a sound as a force. Stone powdered. Walls shook. Windows burst. The air reverberated, pulsing lines of pressure forming with such density that they warped the light. The screech was a wall of destruction that expanded in every direction in the blink of an eye, leaving no possibility for evasion.

The magic hit me harder than a shoulder check by Panda Pop. I was plucked from the ground and flung a dozen meters down the hall. Pink light sparked around me. My aura was resonating with the sound and spewing out energy. My shuken held, barely, and I landed on the ground feet first. Stiletto heels dug into tile, carving trenches as they slowed my pace. Then the gale passed. Except for the ringing of my ears, I was uninjured.

I stalked forward and answered Akina's blast with one of my own. Again ki condensed between my hands, swirling inward in a cyclone of light. This time I did not draw from my confidence. Instead, I kept my magic pure, empowering the attack with nothing but haigeki. Frustration, spite, and anger were pooled together in a orb of destruction. It glowed pale pink, a false innocence that obscured the malevolent forces contained within.

I thrust my hands forward and shouted. Ki passed into breath. Breath became words. Will was made manifest. By naming my technique, I amplified it and gave it solidity. "Tenshi osakebi!"

Heavenly light flashed, and stone was rent asunder. A tremendous gap was torn through the school's outer walls. Daylight poured in through it. The destruction left behind was shocking. It looked as though an eighteen wheeler had careened through the hall and then done a couple of three-sixties for good measure.

In the center of the carnage was Akina. The black bodiced girl hovered a few centimeters above the shattered floor. Her voice warbled and a sphere of distorted air shimmered around her, tinted a faint green by my glasses. Despite the power of my attack, my opponent remained untouched.

Akina's tone cut off, and she settled to the ground.

"Attend to the escaping students," Akina called out. Her voice was crisp and it cut through the rumble of shifting stone. "You'll do no good here."

It took me a second to realize that Akina was talking to the gawking crowd that surrounded us. My eyes shifted through the group. There were about a dozen girls. None had rated higher than Kuno on the Daisuke-Saffron scale. From the absence of readiness, I guessed that most lacked combat experience. I could take the whole group single handedly. But I had more than myself to worry about. Unless Ukyou had learned tenki, there was no way she'd be able to beat even the weakest of this lot.

I would have to trim their numbers. Until Hikaru and his gang showed up, I was the only thing standing between Ukyou and captivity.

"Tee-he-he-he-he!" A shrill laugh rang out, the voice just short of nails-on-the-chalkboard. A spiral of dark petals wafted through the hollowed out corridor. "I, Lovely Liquorice Kodachi, shall dispose of this trespasser and prove you unworthy of the Director's honor, Senshi."

Perched on the broken shards of a teetering third floor was Kodachi Kuno. She was wearing the same black, gothic lolita outfit as she had when I fought her on the roof, but now the ribbons of liquorice were bigger and more abundant. More subtle was how her aristocratic face had been rounded out into a softer, cuter visage.

This was the result of Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon. Kodachi had undergone as second metamorphosis at her master's whim. Chiyo, however, had failed in her goal of ridding Kodachi of that hideous laugh.

Akina's violet eyes flashed, and her ruby lips thinned. "Assist the other girls, Kodachi. I will handle Saotome on my own."

"I only take orders from my mistress, not you, worthless witch," Kodachi sneered back. "This interloper will fall by my hand. It is already clear you cannot win. No doubt, a product of your inferior breeding. Tee-he-he-he!"

The crowd of spectators made no moves while Kodachi and Akina talked. Untrained fools. I turned that negligence to my advantage and gathered a second ball of virulent pink energy. "Tenshi osakebi!"

With a twist of my wrists I deformed the sphere. The ball became a beam that slashed from right to left. The elongated fan of pink light pierced the space Akina had occupied the instant before.

I missed, but it didn't matter. My attack had done its job. Like a giant sword, my ki had cut its way through the second floor. Gaps as wide as my arm where hewn through struts and walls. The destruction spanned a sixty-degree arc in front of me. Suddenly bereft of its support, the building groaned. Enormous masses began to shift. Pillars, strained by the earlier fighting, crumbled. The third floor fell upon the second.

Girls scrambled and dived to the side, seeking shelter from the slow motion catastrophe. Dust erupted from the floors and ceilings in a cloud that shrouded everything. The ground lurched beneath my feet, its angle changing as one end rose and the other fell.

The orange hued ghosts of girls rushed to find sanctuary. I attacked.

Dancing through debris and dodging falling rubble I found my way to the closest girl. A young witch no older than fourteen. Her pointed hat had fallen to her feet, and she was clinging to a pin board for balance. She struggled to pull herself up, her legs slipping out of underneath her.

I offered no pity.

I closed in and smashed her upside the head. My fist plowed into the witch's temple, her shuken offering nothing but fractional resistance to my ikisasu. The girl slumped and rolled down the tilted corridor.

I whirled on.

Ten loping strides brought me to a princess. She evaded my opening strike, a sweeping round house that threatened to remove her feet. She answered with the inept swipe of her wand. Rainbow light slashed out in the attack's wake, but missed by a meter. I didn't allow a second chance. Completing my spin, I hit the princess with a second round house, this one burying itself into her left kidney. The girl was flung back and into a wall. She slumped there, gasping for breath while clutching her side.

Next was a school girl, magical knight duo. The two slowed me for all of five seconds before joining their companions on the floor. That was all it took. The flow of battle had shifted.

Roaring fire halted my progress. I dodged back and long tongues of flame stretched out in pursuit. Air whistled above me and I slid to the side. A giant club crashed into the ground and crushed the floor into finer gravel.

I leaned to avoid the backslash and faced my opponents. Three oni were gathered in a semi circle around me. Each of the horned demons stood half again as tall as I did. All were armed thick branches torn from trees, the occasional twig and leaf still attached. I ignored them and utilized Michiko's glasses to see beyond. A distant, orange ghost, wreathed in green flames, was offering support.

I dealt with the ranged attacker first, firing off lance of pink that stabbed out and into the distance. Without waiting to see if I had hit my mark, I flung myself forward. The oni moved to block. They swung at me with broad strokes. Their weapons were heavy and their attacks slow. Even if I had been tied down by chains, I could have evaded them all. I answered with fists and feet. The demons crumbled and vanished into puffs of smoke. All that they left behind were small, smoldering, paper seals.

Shikigami.

I swung my gaze and found the summoner. She was perched at the peak of the tilted floor, a young woman wearing a beautiful onmyouji outfit. She held in her hand two more ofuda, which she promptly threw. Green mist flowed into the seals, and a pair of oni took form.

Only to be ended by my blurring hands. I crushed the paper slips between my fingers and then tore them in half.

An instant later, I was on her.

The onmyouji retreated as fast as she could, and withstood my first few attacks with a modicum of skill and a large helping of shuken. I could see the desperation rage on her face as she tried one last bid to ward me off. A living gun, made of demonic flesh, materialized around her arm. She opened fire. Two bright pulses flashed on either side of me as I swayed around the assault. In the following second the onmyouji's shuken caved. My next kick struck her in the chest and slammed her into a wall. I finished by punching her in the face and driving her head through the concrete.

Music heralded Akina's return to the fray.

No sooner did the first note reach my ear than I was in the air. A barrage of sonic bombs pummeled my prior position. I twirled in midair and landed, upside down, on the rebar mesh that divided school from sky. I swung side to side while maintaining my perch. Sonic hammers flashed by so close that they sheered bits of pink ki from my aura before wasting their energy on the blue heavens above.

I gazed down. There you are.

Akina was on the first floor, standing in a zone cleared of strewn rubble. With my target sighted, I unhooked my feet and kicked off. I rolled while I descended, evading two more sonic bullets and the slash of a red liquorice whip. I hit the inclined second floor feet first. Kodachi's whip snapped after me, but with cavorting steps I skipped away.

"Tee-he-he-hee!" Kodachi giggled as she slung her whip in crazed motions.

The red candy ribbon cracked twice, slicing great hunks from the ground beneath me. The overhang broke loose. I allowed myself to fall with it. I plunged two and a half stories from the askew second floor that now aspired to be the third.

With a haunting voice, Akina sang a bar of six bullets. They met me in midair. I slipped between the acoustic assault, contorting as I fell. Skirt, ribbons, and long pigtailed locks were set awhirl with my acrobatics. I landed on a toe, tenki making my touchdown look impossibly soft. With my aura barely quivering, I returned fire.

Akina wove between punches, her head bobbing side-to-side. To an outsider, it would have looked like a two world class fighters slugging it out. That apparent evenness was a lie. My ikisasu was carving great hunks from Akina's shuken. She compensated by willing her aura back into place. But, there was a time limit on her invulnerability and it was quickly running out.

Of course, both of us knew that.

While she defended with shuken, Akina prepared her counter assault with haigeki. Potent power gathered around her forming a haze of thickening green. The HUD on my lenses flickered thrice and then shut off. I caught glimpse of my opponent through unfiltered vision. Aureate star in regalia hair, Akina danced to the beat of my assault, an enchanting idol shimmying upon the stage. Sparkling light moved with her, highlighting her golden skirt and midnight bodice.

Then she screamed.

The atmosphere shook. Resonating force exploded out. Physical objects were catapulted away. Rubble too heavy to be thrown was shaken into dust.

The blast hit me head on. I did not retreat, but instead endured. In the face of raw rejection I imposed fantasy. Haigeki warred with shuken and my aura distorted under the mystic pressure. Crushing force squeezed me in vise. Air shoved its way into my lungs, bloating them to the bursting point even while my chest was compressed by the hands of a giant.

The wave passed. Splinters of pink energy scattered in the attack's wake, fragments of ki torn from my megami no ooi by the tidal forces inflicted. A slump of weariness followed, notable more by its suddenness than by how it marked the limits of my strength.

Silence. My abused ears rang. Warm liquid rolled from the channels. My body was shouting out its agony, but the adrenaline washed away all pain. The advantage was mine.

Akina's scream had been more strategic than offensive. Short range favored me just as long range favored her. If it had driven me back then I would have been forced to wade through a sonic shower while her shuken recovered. Instead, we remained face to face. Better than that, Akina had pulled from her reserves to unleash the attack, and that had left her aura depleted.

In mystical terms, Akina was defenseless, and while she was no half-trained girl, Akina lacked the ability to withstand my skill.

I had won.

It took but a single step to put me back in range of Akina. I started by burying my fist into her gut. Her frame folded around my arm, and her body lifted into the air. I seized Akina's right arm with my left and jumped. My body twisted in a tight circle and Akina's arm twisted with me. Wrist and elbow gave way with a sickening crack. I released and flipped head over heels. I landed on Akina's back with one foot while kicking downward with all my strength.

The blow landed right as we both hit ground.

Akina went still.

Victory.

Pain.

My triumph was cut short. A rain of tiny candy bullets scattered across my back. Each of the red liquorice bits penetrated two centimeters into muscle. They flayed the flesh from my back, reducing pink cloth and creamy skin to a mess of pounded meat.

I threw myself out of the way. A line of bullets trailed after, powdering stone and perforating broken walls. I rebounded off of two surfaces while avoiding the confectionery death. Only then did I find cover that was sufficiently thick.

I huddled behind the pillar for long seconds, listening to Kodachi's insane giggles. Icy numbness was spreading through my back, and my aura was recovering slowly. I took direct control and focused the bulk of my spiritual strength to rejecting the poison that was flowing into my veins. The hellfire of haigeki tore into Kodachi's magic and reduced it into nothingness. Numbness ceased its growth and began to fade. I replaced haigeki with shuken and eased it into my wounds. The magic was cool and soothing. I felt pain fade away as flesh reknit and torn silk was restored to perfection.

"Tee-he-he-hee! Run all you like little girl," Kodachi cackled. "But I, Lovely Liquorice Kodachi, will cut you down."

I held my hiding place for a few more precious seconds so that my wounds could heal further. Then I stepped out and into view.

"Sorry to disappoint, but running is not in my play book," I replied.

I casually leaned against a wall and watched Kodachi through the broken rubble. A shower of water sprayed between us. Beams of sunlight passed through the scattered droplets, shedding prismatic light.

_Grrraaawww_. The school let out a long, hideous groan. The floors above us shifted, sliding to the side a centimeter or two. Dust poured from the ceiling in waterfalls. Neon lights flickered, and sparks shot from exposed wiring. A sharp crack, like the fire of a gun, echoed from some distant locale.

Quietly, I pondered Kodachi. She wasn't in my plans, but now that she was here I had the opportunity to save her as well. The question was, could I afford to drag an unwilling or unconscious girl with me while I sought to find Akane?

No. I couldn't. The answer came easily. Tatewaki might hate me even more for it, but Kodachi was further down my important person list than Akane.

"Foolish girl, your arrogance cannot hide your weakness. Even now my poison steals away your strength," Kodachi crowed. Long lengths of liquorice formed around her as she spoke. "Beg for mercy all you like, but I will never grant it. Tee-he-he-hee!"

Poison. Weakness. Kodachi, as always, thought too highly of herself. Sure, I was breathing hard, but I still had more than half my strength. Time, right now, was as much a foe as an ally. It brought Hikaru closer, but also Chiyo and Gondul. For that matter, I had not missed how Akina's body had vanished. Tenki had cured my wounds. Tenki would certainly cure hers. If Akina and Kodachi double teamed me, things could get ugly.

Another series of cracks sounded like a line of firecrackers going off. The whole school rumbled, and the second floor slid half-a-meter along its inclined perch. I grinned. I could use that again. But first, a lure.

"Beg? A maid? I think not." My words were imperious, as though spoken by nobility. I played the part, straightening myself and taking the haughty stance of an aristocrat. "Your poison, serving girl, has already been nullified. As though it were ever a threat. A creature of your stature could never hope to defeat a lady of true breeding."

Kodachi struck at me with a wide slash. Razor candy whipped through the wall, traveling from my left to my right. I slipped around the attack, following the curve the liquorice whip. The twined strands kissed my right shoulder as I moved, a line of blood and icy numbness marking its touch.

"Insufferable wretch! I shall put you in your place," Kodachi screeched.

She raged. Kodachi attacked again and again with wild swings, her liquorice whip snapping to and fro. But fury did not blunt Kodachi's skill. The slash of her whip was as accurate as ever. If anything, the danger had increased. Anger fueled Kodachi's haigeki and, in turn, empowered her attacks. Her candy whip no longer sliced, but instead obliterated.

I fled from Kodachi's rampage, vanishing deep into unstable halls. There, darkness encroached. Fluorescent lights did little but sputter, and daylight was held at bay by the intact structure of the second and third floors.

The liquorice whip snapped out again, flashing past my cheek. It eradicated the support beam behind me.

"Pitiful," I scoffed. "They allow girls of this quality to attend? I am not impressed."

Kodachi's whip answered my disdain, rolling, twisting, and shredding concrete like putty. The hall groaned with its weakening structure. I took that as my warning and subtly strengthened my shuken. With all my magic occupied, I relied on nothing but raw skill to dodge. At the same time, I goaded Kodachi further. It wouldn't do for her to become aware too soon.

"Perhaps I am wrong?" I queried. "Are you part of the serving staff?"

"Die!" Kodachi screamed.

Red liquorice swirled and then stabbed out in a candy spear. The attack drilled through my afterimage and annihilated the pillar behind me. The hall groaned again. Sharp cracks echoed out, stone and steel shattering under the shifting weight. The ceiling sagged, and the fight was brought to a sudden halt.

Rather than look at me, Kodachi stared at the ceiling. I offered an unappreciated smirk and released my shuken.

My aura rolled out in every direction. Crudely woven ki sank into the stones and dispersed through the hall. It imposed upon the broken school an idea. Reality bent the slightest bit, and a world already primed unleashed its fury.

All at once, crooked crevasses shot through walls and ceiling. Kodachi backpedaled and then turned to run, but I had lured her too far from safety, and the breaking structure imbued with my spirit had become a malignant force. Cracks gave chase, spreading like lightning and reaching out far ahead. They allowed no hope for escape.

The school collapsed. It fell as a single entity, all its weight focused inward. It was as though the building itself was intent on burying my opponent.

"Wow," I said. I gazed in admiration of my handiwork. "That was kind of awesome."

Kodachi was entombed by a mountain of rubble. I, only half a dozen meters away, was untouched. Every wall had caved away from me. Steel supports had serendipitously twisted so that they had served as a shield from falling debris. Sunlight now warmed my back, and I indulged in it. I grinned uncontrollably, my pride surging at my rapid mastery of magical girl magics.

"It seems that you'll leave no stone standing, Saotome-san. Barbaric."

Akina. She stood upon the broken remains of the school's roof, a furious angel glaring down upon me. I smiled back, unable and unwilling to hide the joy of victory.

"Please," I retorted. "I didn't see you hesitate before ripping the school apart."

Onmyouji, Fencer, and Lilac were gathered at Akina's flank. Five monstrous oni sprang into existence around them and moved to cut off escape. I paid the shikigami no mind and instead pounded the rim of my glasses until aura-mode turned on properly. I scanned the mountain of rubble. An orange ghost was buried beneath. Kodachi was pinned but not dead, exactly as I had been aiming for.

"I, at least, do not delight in such savagery," Akina answered. "You, on the other hand, are a beast. Smiling at the destruction you wrought, gloating over the pain inflicted upon your enemies, truly, you are deserving of the title, senshi. The Director will be pleased that you live up to her expectations."

I gave Akina an odd look. I was uncertain if her accusations of barbarism were supposed to be insults or compliments. Not that it mattered to me. Words like cute, sweet, and pretty had far sharper barbs when turned against me.

"Good for her, then. But I really don't care what the Director thinks. Let's get this over and done with. I still have a girl to pick up." I attempted to crack my knuckles, but tenki apparently considered that act too unfeminine. I concealed my mistake by stretching my arms instead.

Akina descended and failed to hide a wince at the small drop. She opened and closed her right hand a few times, but I could see that the limb did not move easily. The fact that Akina's shuken had failed restore her arm's functionality was a sign that Akina was on her last legs. I shifted into a stance, plans snapping together on how to take advantage of that fact.

Akina sighed. "I'd be a fool to face you again," she admitted. "While I wield my magic with greater skill, you have proven yourself to be the superior warrior. I already see how this fight will end. No. I will not repeat my mistake. This time _we_ will hold you here until either Chiyo, or Gondul arrive to resolve the matter."

A new, cheeky voice chimed in. "Tough luck there, Akina-chan, because your time just ran out."

Past the gathered magical girls and atop a tower of rubble was Hikaru. The salary-man was wearing a broad grin and a button-up shirt drenched with sweat. He tapped a sawed off shotgun against his shoulder in a lazy gesture.

Behind Hikaru was a dome of yellow. It expanded in an accelerating rush. The boundary swept over Hikaru and smashed into the gathered girls. Akina attempted to throw herself back but moved seconds too late.

The expanding dome hit Akina in the air. She stopped. All color leached from her clothes and skin leaving behind nothing but gray. Impossibly, Akina did not fall. Instead she sat in the sky, a statue undeterred by gravity.

I glanced down at myself. All I had felt when the magic hit me was a slight tingle.

"Ranchan!" Ukyou shouted.

Ukyou crested the broken rubble in an energetic leap. Her princess gown had been shredded in the fighting. The skirt was stripped, exposing legs and torn stockings. She was also barefoot, her heeled shoes long since abandoned.

Just behind Ukyou was Syaoran. He landed on the rubble next to Hikaru, his hands hidden within the long sleeves of his robes and crossed against his chest. I didn't catch more than that because Ukyou shoved herself into my vision and grinned like mad.

"Ranchan, looks like we got here just in time to pay you back," Ukyou said.

"I had everything under control," I retorted. I was a little miffed she could think otherwise, but mild irritation was not enough to eclipse the elation of seeing her free. "What are you doing here? And what just happened?"

"Syaoran stopped time," Hikaru replied, answering the second question. "Kuonji's here because she insisted."

"Damn right!" Ukyou said.

"Stopped time?" I glanced at the frozen statues. Magical girls held still in mid action. Stopped time. I couldn't believe it. Not even when I was staring at the result. "Is that... possible?"

"Yep," Hikaru said, smiling like he'd done it himself, "Pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"Sakura's magic, not mine. I am merely borrowing it." Syaoran scanned the terrain. "We should leave. This spell won't hold forever."

I shook my head. "I'm not going anywhere without Akane."

"We talked about this," Hikaru said.

"Stuff it, Hikaru," I shot back. "Hey, Ucchan, where did they take her?"

Ukyou hefted a big rock and tossed it a few times to judge its weight. Then she looked over a shoulder, her face conveying regret. "Sorry, Ranchan, but I haven't seen her since the first day. They dragged her off almost immediately for adjustment. Ogura-sensei had her eyes on us. I'm sure I was next." Ukyou gave a weak smile. "Thanks for the save, Ranchan. But next time, lose the frills."

With that, Ukyou turned and threw a hunk of concrete at Akina's head. The crumbling rock shattered on the woman's skull, causing no apparent damage. "Take that, bitch!" Ukyou cursed.

"Any guess where she'd be?" I asked.

Ukyou closed her eyes and shook her head. "You should probably check the west wing. Just past the cathedral. I've only heard rumors, but supposedly that's where they stash the problem cases."

I glanced across the school. We were on ruined the east wing of the Institute. Joined to the east wing, and undamaged, was the segment Ukyou had called the cathedral, a gothic structure with sweeping arches and stained glass windows. Beyond that, but invisible from where I was standing, was the west wing. The west-wing was a long, squat, one-storied structure. I could probably search the whole building in less than ten minutes.

"I hate to rain on your parade, but we definitely don't have enough time for that. It's a miracle that Gondul and Chiyo haven't shown up yet, and staying longer is just pushing our luck." Hikaru shuddered. "Worse. The Director herself could intervene."

"Oh, silly Hikaru, it wasn't a miracle. I merely wanted to watch Ranma-chan beat up Akina-chan," a sweet, yet malicious voice said.

Chiyo Mori sauntered across the rubble that was once the east wing. Crackling yellow bolts sparked off her powder blue dress. Syaoran's magic was shattering on the surface of Chiyo's godlike aura. Frozen time held no grip upon Chiyo. She daintily stepped through the debris, twirling an embroidered umbrella above her head as though she were walking through a sunlit park.

Chiyo stopped and smiled at us. The grin was wide enough to split her face in two. "But since all that is done and over with, how about we play instead?"

"Chiyo." Hikaru's expression became guarded. "Shit. No choice. We leave. Now."

"You can run if you want, but I'm not leaving without Akane," I said stubbornly.

As though to contradict my words, my hands shook. Chiyo. I couldn't beat her. Not even with tenki. If someone as weak as Akina could give me trouble, I would have no hope when pitted against Chiyo's insane strength.

Hikaru's eyes flashed. "Kid. Don't be a fool. Save her later."

"I'll save her now."

"A fool is exactly what she is, Hikaru-kun," Chiyo interrupted. The angelic monster twirled prettily on the mound of rock. "But don't worry. She'll be gooey sweetness soon enough. Ah! I know. How about an early birthday present, Hikaru-kun? I can give you a cute candy princess to play with."

"That'll never happen," I growled. I glared up at Chiyo.

Chiyo's brown eyes flickered to me. "Stupid girl. Didn't you learn anything the first time? What you want is-"

"Hey, Chiyo, can you give us a minute?" Hikaru asked loudly. He flashed a broad grin. "For old times sake?"

"Hikaru, Hikaru. You're so mean interrupting a cute little girl like me. But, since I love you so, I'll let you have your talk. Just don't keep me waiting. You know how... impatient I can be," Chiyo said with a giggle.

Hikaru dropped his smile and switched back to me. "Give it up, kid. If you reach for too much, you'll end up with nothing. It time for us to run away so we can fight another day."

"Damn it, Hikaru, you know I can't leave without Akane." I said.

Truth be told, I kind of wanted to be talked down, but my damn pride refused to cooperate. Besides, how the hell could I leave Akane behind? That wouldn't happen. _Ever._

Hikaru opened his mouth to say more, but Syaoran cut in.

"Nigata. He must do what he must." Syaoran turned to me. "Go. We will hold her as long as we can."

Hikaru gave Syaoran a sharp look. "You aren't serious, are you?"

Syaoran answered with a measured gaze.

"Shit. Fine. But just so you know, if we die, I'm blaming you," Hikaru grumbled. "Here's to hoping Chiba shows up quick and bails us out."

I glanced at Ukyou. She shook her head.

"I'll stay out of the way, sugar. I know I'm useless here. Find Akane. We'll chat later over okonomiyaki."

"Time's up!" Chiyo chirped. "I hope you're all sorted out now, because all this talking is so boring." Chiyo said. The girl casually discarded her umbrella and made a show of pulling out a pair of candy-cane battle axes.

"Syaoran, please tell me you've got something _really _good up your sleeves," Hikaru growled under his breath as Chiyo stalked forward.

Syaoran whipped out a pink backed card. "Fiery," he whispered. Flames exploded around him and formed into feminine spirit. "Take her, Hikaru, and don't give Sakura a reason to scold me again."

That was the last I saw, because I turned my back and ran. Behind me a shout of _Raitei Shourai_ rang out, and the clash of battle began.

-oOo-

I wasted a minute trying to reach the west wing before I realized it was impossible. Once within ten meters of the building, no matter how fast I ran, it remained that far away.

Damn. In frustration I tapped the rim of Michiko's glasses. Colors played over the lenses and I saw that the entire west wing was wrapped in a thin green fog. Magic. I grimaced and swung my eyes back to the east.

Bright lights flashed in the distance. A cacophony of bangs sounded from the fierce fighting. The battle grew further away, indicating that Hikaru and Syaoran were being forced into a rapid retreat. Given the gap between the fighting and the iron gates, I guessed that I had five minutes, at best. After that I'd be fighting Chiyo... alone.

Shit. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I shook my head and rid myself of the darker thoughts. Focus on Akane, Ranma. Ukyou was safe. One down. One to go.

With the west wing off limits, I entered the cathedral.

The huge, oak doors opened into an ancient stone temple. The cathedral was dim and became dimmer when the heavy doors closed themselves with their own weight. The only light was that which filtered through the dozens of stained glass windows four stories above. They painted the ground with the mirror of their shape. A crescent moon on a dark background, silver vines entwining.

Though Ukyou had named this place 'the cathedral', the great chamber was no place of worship. Benches were lined up facing a throne so that authority could be disseminated, not religion. Yet, I could not deny the majesty of the design. Epic pillars stretched high and arched overhead to form a dome. Dozens of unlit chandeliers hung from the rafters. The granite floor was polished to a sheen. Emblazoned at my feet was a giant seal depicting the same moon and vines with even greater detail.

The chamber made me feel small and unworthy. I had an inkling that was the point.

A figure rose from the front most bench. Gondul. I recognized the warrior from her armor: steel helmet beset with wings and mail shirt covered by a corslet.

Gondul stepped out into the path between the benches and thudded the butt of her iron shafted spear against the ground. "Fight me with honor, warrior!" she shouted, her strong voice echoing throughout the chamber.

I ignored her. Instead, I scanned the western wall with my glasses. Ah ha. Cut into the stone of the cathedral were a pair of double doors leading into the western wing. Michiko's glasses showed that they were free of green mist. I had my entrance. With the flick of a finger I snapped the aura mode off and faced Gondul.

I gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but I don't have the time to deal with you."

Even as I delivered my retort, I moved. I dashed across the stone floor and vaulted over wooden benches. _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Jagged javelins of lightning struck. My shuken shook, but held. Truth was overwritten by a lie. Blasts that should have hit instead missed and I was thrown to the ground in a tight roll so that the brilliant energy wasted itself against the cathedral's walls.

_Chung!_ Gondul landed in front of me with a metallic clang. With two heavy steps she was between me and the door.

"I give you no choice, warrior. We will fight here, upon the sacred grounds of Her Majesty," Gondul declared. "But to honor your commitment, I shall set your Akane free should you prove victorious."

"I would prefer if you didn't make such a promise, Gondul," a new woman spoke.

The speaker was tall and dressed in thick layers of cloth that washed across the ground. A circlet of silver, crusted with diamonds, embraced her brow. The metal ring parted at the woman's forehead and there, dangling from short chains, was a yellow crescent moon. The woman held herself with a regal stature as she strode in from the back of the cathedral. She swept her way up the daises and sat in the throne. From there, she gazed down upon us as though she were a god.

Her presence sent chills down my spine. I could not fathom her strength. Of this woman's spirit, I could only catch the briefest glimpses, and what I saw shone like the sun. Even the air shimmered around her, a tangible result of power so raw that it defied imagination.

Gondul faced the woman and knelt. The Valkyrie set her spear flat on the floor and bowed her head until she could see nothing but stone.

"Your majesty," Gondul greeted.

An opportunity. I dived for the door, uninterested in the scene playing itself out. Gondul did not rise to stop me. She didn't need to. Before I could reach the double doors, vines grew out of nowhere and swallowed them. They did not stop after denying me my route. Thousands upon thousands of tendrils continued to spread and expand. They covered the entire western wall, then spread further until every path in and out the cathedral was bocked by a mass of ligneous tentacles.

The chandeliers lit as one filling the darkened cathedral with a warm glow.

"None of that," the woman proclaimed from her throne. "My senshi has challenged you to an honorable duel, and it would be a disgrace if you did not answer."

The woman paused. "Though, I must respect how you place duty above glory. Very well. I will honor the promise of my knight, Gondul. Should you defeat her, I will expel a girl of your choice."

I relaxed into a loose stance. "You must be the director, Artemis. Why should I believe anything you say?"

Artemis's expression turned stern. "Whether you trust me or not, girl, is irrelevant. The moment you stepped into my realm, you belonged to me. It is only at my sufferance that your sacrifice will have any meaning. Do not try me further, or I will crush you where you stand."

My eyes darkened and my face was marred by a scowl. I didn't like this woman's tone. "You talk like you've already won."

"And so I have," Artemis declared. "But believe whatever you wish. I will not argue with a peasant. Face Gondul or not, but be quick about it." Artemis's eyes shifted to her knight. "You may rise."

Gondul stood and faced me once more. She gave a slight bow and thumped her spear against the ground again. "Honor me with this battle."

I looked past her and at the woman on the throne. "So, if I win, Akane and I walk free, right?" I said, confirming the promise.

"No," Artemis contradicted. "Win and a girl you name goes free. You, Saotome, now and forever belong to me."

I grimaced and grunted. "Good enough, but I'm don't think I'm making any promises about surrendering." I shifted my eyes back to the Valkyrie. "Well then, let's fight."

With a swift whirl I stole the first strike, a spinning kick that slammed into Gondul's helmet. The attack hit with enough force to crush boulders, and cut into Gondul's aura with a haigeki sharp enough to slice Akina's shuken in two. I may as well have thrown pebbles at a charging bear. Gondul's only reaction was for her head to sway to the side by a single centimeter.

I hopped back. My leg had gone numb from the sudden stop. Crap. The Valkyrie was tough enough to make Ryouga seem soft.

Gondul stretched her neck and stepped forward. She started with a single, slow, probing thrust of her spear. I batted it aside...

...At least that was what I tried to do. The weapon slipped past my arm as though it didn't exist, and shredded my shuken like paper. The spear's broad leaf blade bit flesh and sliced along my ribs.

I hissed and jerked back. Shit. What the hell? I blocked that. I knew I blocked that. How?

A second thrust followed the first. This time I devoted my full attention to defending. Carefully, but swiftly, I went for the spear's haft. Again, I missed. When my palm should have touched steel, the spear was no longer there. Instead, the weapon had teleported half a meter lower, where it cut a shallow wound into my right thigh.

I ground my teeth in frustration more than pain. Once could have been a fluke. Twice was an impossibility. How? There was no way I would fail to block such a slow thrust. So what technique had Gondul used to slip her spear past my guard?

In irritation, I waited for the third attack. Gondul obliged. The weapon surged forward then vanished like vapor when it met my guard, only to puncture the skin on my right arm causing crimson droplets to fall to the floor. Ah! I felt it that time. When the spear thrust, reality bent. The weapon carried with it an absolute law on par to the one invoked by my shuken. Where my aura declared with all my mystical strength: _I cannot be hit,_ the spear declared with even greater force: _I never fail to pierce my target_.

Magic. Gondul's spear was magic, and the worst kind too. It neutralized my magical girl defense with power to spare, rendering me completely defenseless. But, like the aura of a magical girl, the spear's law was not absolute. Power yielded to power. To defend against the spear, all I needed was a law that was even greater.

I danced back a dozen meters and gave myself breathing room. In the break of battle, shuken poured into my wounds, sealing flesh. Bleeding stopped and scars vanished. But, like all things born of tenki, the healing was a half truth. The injuries remained, hidden away by the magic that seeped into them. When tenki fell, some fraction of their existence would return. I was all too aware that, if my wounds were severe enough, I would die.

Then again, that had been a risk from the moment I had forced my unready body into this state.

Gondul pursued with a lazy walk. Her arm stabbed out twice as she approached and crackling electricity jumped out at me in an energetic bolt. Again shuken saved me, causing my body to sway to the side so that the lightning missed narrowly. The second attack I avoided on my own. I dodged Gondul's aim instead of her lightning and was rewarded when the bolt hit a wall far to my right.

Then we returned to melee. Gondul opened with the same slow stab, an attack that imparted neither strength nor speed. I stepped in, my left hand blurring to intercept. To assist my block I used haigeki. I focused the whole of my energy into a single point and utterly rejected the spear's law. The weapon's magic faltered. My palm met steel and I swept the blade to the side.

The unexpected defense left Gondul's guard open, and I dove in without hesitance. When the two of us were face to face I lashed out. My right fist pounded into the Valkyrie's nose in a machine gun blur so fast that it looked like a single strike. The ikisasu enhanced amaguriken blew Gondul's head back. She retreated a half step. I followed, readying a second punch with my left arm. I never got a chance to deliver it. The Valkyrie's buckler blindsided me.

The rounded shield smashed into the side of my head with the force of a battering ram. The speed and power behind the blow sent me spinning. I flew through the air for two meters before smashing atop a wooden bench. I bounced and then landed on my feet. My legs wobbled, and I fought to get my reeling senses back under control.

Gondul did not pursue. The Valkyrie was busy wiping away the blood that had been pouring from her nose.

Shaking the last bit of fog from my head I flashed Gondul a smirk. Gondul answered with a sharp nod and the thump of her spear against her chest.

Then she struck.

The lazy speed Gondul had shown was cast aside. The Valkyrie crossed the distance between us in the blink of an eye. She thrust. This was no a half hearted blow. Gondul's entire frame was centered behind her spear, propelling it forward at the speed of lightning.

I fell back. It was but a single step but it garnered for me the tiniest fractions of a second. I brought up my arm and batted the weapon to the side with the swiftness of the wind. A blur of thrusts followed, dozens of attacks delivered in a single second, each targeting a different vital. The dizzying speed of the Gondul's jabs threatened to overwhelm my defense. I pulled heavily from the amaguriken, using the technique to increase the velocity of my hands to the max. All the while, I continuously neutralized the spear's law, lest I be gutted.

I retreated at nearly a run, and Gondul pursued in an unending avalanche. I fought to find my rhythm. Nicks and cuts appearing by the score. Every microsecond counted. A touch too slow, and the blade of Gondul's spear would slice flesh. If I let my haigeki waver, the weapon would sneak past my defense and unleash a crimson spray.

Blood began to seep into my clothes. Desperately, I sought to work the magic of shuken into my guard. Finally, I found the desired combination, and I won for myself breathing room. For now, I could hold against Gondul's assault.

But not for long. It had cost me two minutes to solidify my defense, and already I could feel my arms growing heavy. I was throwing away ki as though it were water, and working my muscles until they burned. Soon my movement would slow, and Gondul would eviscerate me.

It was impossible to win by defending. I had to attack.

So that was what I did.

Sharpening my haigeki, I lessened my defense and stepped in. The shift in my style created openings and Gondul found them instantly. Her spear scored two hits, cutting deep and severing muscle. With my strength already concentrated there was little energy left to heal the wounds, so I grit my teeth and ignored the pain.

I would gladly pay that price twice over to take back the offense.

Another step and I was in range. The nearness stifled the Valkyrie's spear work, and I used that to my advantage. I drove my knee into Gondul's ribs while lashing out at her chin with my left fist. Gondul countered by spinning her spear like a staff. I jumped. The haft swept under my legs while I rolled in the air and kicked. My stiletto heel clanged against Gondul's helmet, but otherwise showed no effect.

The Valkyrie shortened her grip and thrust up at me. I gathered haigeki in my foot and hooked the weapon with my right shoe. I shoved down, pushing the spear aside, and bouncing back into the air with a tiny hop. While suspended, I gathered my aura into a single point. It was a risky gamble, but ordinary attacks were failing to penetrate Gondul's shuken.

"Tenshi osakebi," I shouted while thrusting my hands at Gondul's face.

Light flashed and at the same time Gondul's spear struck true. The wide leaf blade slashed across my stomach, slicing a trench into my flesh before penetrating my right breast. The recoil of my attack blew the two of us apart. The spear lurched. The wound tore larger.

I smashed through several benches in an uncontrolled heap. I hit the ground and rolled. Short, gasping breaths escaped my lungs, and pain obscured everything. My dress was drenched with blood. I had a hand over the wound, squeezing it closed. I didn't remember putting it there. Robotically, I stumbled to my feet.

My mind sputtered and restored its function. I summoned up all my ki and converted it into shuken. Cancerous ice spread through the laceration, and the blood that was oozing through my fingers slowed. Numbness dulled the pain and my thoughts became clearer. It wasn't enough. I wasn't holding a breast anymore, but a hunk of meat. I couldn't heal a wound of this size, not fast enough, and not with the energy I had left.

And, across the room, Gondul was pulling herself to her feet.

If she attacked me now, it was all over. Dizzily, I drew deeply from the embers of my endurance and fired off another tenshi osakebi.

The pink bullet flashed across the cathedral only to meet Gondul's shield. The attack ricocheted off the steel surface into a nearby wall. Stalk and sap splattered across the room.

Gondul jerked her leg free from a tangle of vines and shook broken stems from her armor. She took a few lurching steps forward and then jumped. It was impossible for a blow to be more telegraphed. She flew in a predefined arch, her spear drawn back to deliver a fatal thrust at the end.

Weakly, I realized that I no longer had the strength to dodge.

Legs shaking and vision blurred, I shifted into a stance to absorb the attack. I put my left hand forward to defend while my right hand held together the two halves of my breast. My ki sputtered. Tenki resisted my attempts to refocus my spirit. It cared more for the utter perfection of my appearance than for my survival. I made it yield.

Gondul landed.

My hand snapped out at the last instant and grabbed the haft of the spear. Death was cast astray, but the Valkyrie herself had yet to stop. Gondul, armored with steel and massing three times what I did, bowled me over and crushed me to the ground.

A wrestling match ensued. Gondul knelt atop of me and attempted to wrench her spear free from the granite floor. I held my grip and used what remained of my strength to hold it there. Gondul added a second arm and I released my wound. With my freed right hand, I punched the Valkyrie in the face as many times as physically possible.

Gondul took my blows with little more than a grunt. With her whole body, she pulled back. The spear ripped free. Victorious, she lifted the weapon high, while at the same time smashing me across the face with her gauntleted fist. My muscles tensed in preparation, ready to reverse the pin the moment Gondul struck.

"Enough!" Artemis commanded.

Silver vines burst from the stone floor. They encircled my body, and pulled me tight against the ground. Others spiraled up the Valkyrie, and held her in place. Muscles bulged in Gondul's arm. Tendrils stretched and began to snap. Then, all at once, violence drained from Gondul's eyes. After a few long seconds, the vines released the Valkyrie.

Gondul stood and faced her queen once more.

"Your majesty," Gondul intoned.

I struggled helplessly against the tendrils that held me in place. "The fight wasn't over!" I snapped.

Damn it. Just a little longer. A little longer and I could have saved Akane. But, even as I thought that, I realized it was no more than delusion. I had lost. No. I had never had a chance in the first place. I had been courting death the entire fight, and Gondul's defense had been too solid to be breached by casual attacks.

Attempting to drag this fight on longer was suicide.

Reality, however, did nothing to dim my pride.

"Silence!" Artemis thundered. "I am witness to this battle, and it was by my assent alone that any boon be granted to the victor. You have lost, Ranma Saotome. So declares I, Artemis Serenity Silvervine, Director of the Pretty Princess Institute, aunt of the late Serenity VI, and now reigning Queen of the Moon Kingdom. So mote it be."

Artemis whirled and faced the warrior kneeling before her. "And, Gondul, how dare you! Was I not clear that Saotome was to be captured? She is _mine!_ Her life is to be ended to my hands only. Do not treat it so carelessly."

"As you will it," Gondul answered back.

"And be sure to not forget it," Artemis reprimanded. Then her voice cooled. "Now, once Saotome willingly kneels to me, I will allow the continuation of this battle. But, Gondul, you will _not_ face her while wielding Gungnir. It is one matter for my senshi to battle against one another to see who is the best, and another for them to cause the other's death. I can no longer trust, Gondul, that you will not unwittingly do the latter. Arise."

Gondul stood and then bowed to the Director. The Valkyrie turned and faced me. Feral yellow eyes, like those of a wolf, met my own. I swallowed my pride and gave tiny nod of acknowledgement. Of all the girls I had fought, Gondul alone deserved to be called an artist of war. I had to honor her that.

Gondul thumped her spear in reply then retreated from the room.

"Michiko," Artemis called out.

At once the silver bikinied beach babe made herself present, her silver heels clicking on the stone surface. Michiko had expanded her wardrobe from when I last saw her. She now wore a lab coat over her silver bikini bathing suit. The white garment cut off at the woman's calves, and was barely able to hold in her bountiful breasts with a single button.

Grudgingly, I was forced to admit that Michiko was, in fact, superior to Hinako-sensei.

"How is she," Artemis asked.

Michiko bent down next to me and plucked the glasses from my head. She held them in her hand for silent seconds while the magic of her shuken fought to restore the glasses. Silver spread throughout the frames, and pink sparks shot from every surface. Eventually, the energies died down and Michiko placed the glasses on her nose.

Michiko examined me for a while after that, her fingers running across the rims in a series of rapid taps. After a long moment, she stood, removed her glasses, and slid them them into the front pocket of her lab coat.

"XT-11's spiritual matrix has yet to crystallize. The experiment may proceed," Michiko proclaimed. "However, XT-11 is in critical condition and should be relocated to a medical room immediately. XT-11 has forced her tenki and has taken severe wounds since. The risk of death is significant."

"Salvage her, Michiko, and proceed with the experiment. But remember that she will be one of your sisters, so treat her with care."

"I have already altered the parameters to account for your intent, Director." Michiko reached into a different pocket and pulled out a syringe. She depressed the plunger slightly, spewing out a small amount of liquid.

I glared at Michiko. Michiko cocked her head to the side slightly at my expression, then promptly ignored it. Pinned to the ground by vines, there was little I could do when she thrust the needle into my neck. Unconsciousness followed swiftly.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia**

**_Onmyoji_** – Kind of a cross between a priest and a wizard. Onmyoji were court sorcerers in the older eras of Japanese history. Typical onmyoji powers center around banishing evil spirits, divination (astrology), and control of shikigami.

_**Shikigami**_ – Demon-like beings controlled by an onmyoji as servitors/familiars.

_**Gungnir**_ – The mythical spear said to have been owned by Odin. Gungnir is a powerful weapon that embodies the law that it always hits its mark.

**Techniques:**

List of techniques mentioned or appearing. Common Ranma ½ techniques are not included. All martial arts / ki / ki-like techniques are in (crappy) Japanese. Most magical girl powers are in English.

_**Tenshi Osakebi**__[lit. Angel Warcry] –_ A variation of the moko takabisha, which itself is a variation of the shi shi hokodan. The tenshi osakebi is compatible with Ranma's tenki and uses haigeki instead of confidence as its primary power source. The attack has great 'weight' due to the perfection of the spiritual aura it is based upon and on top of that deals additional damage by causing whatever it hits to rip itself apart.

Tenshi osakebi is in the same league as Ryouga's ultimate shi shi hokodan, but is significantly less powerful due to a much shorter charge time.

**_Acoustic Bullet_** _(unnamed) –_ Akina sings three bars unleashing exactly six sonic bullets. Bullets may be manifested anywhere Akina's aura/music reaches, with more distant locations manifesting with greater delay. Acoustic bullets are nearly invisible and travel at a high velocity. This makes the attack difficult to dodge. The destructive effect of any single bullet is akin to a base level moko takabisha, though the rates of fire cannot be compared.

**_Sonic Blast_** _(unnamed) – _Akina screams creating a unidirectional sonic force the repels the target while dealing heavy sonic damage. The power required for this attack takes several seconds for Akina to gather. While preparing a sonic blast Akina in incapable of using other sonic attacks. She does, however, remain able to defend herself.

**Characters**

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

_**Naomi Aoki** (Lilac) [PPI, Elegance]_ – A magical girl that has flower based magical attacks. Of the three girls that attacked Ranma's class, she fought Ranma for the longest period. Lilac's magical powers are best suited for long range support.

_**Akina Ishii** (Singing Star Angel Akina) [PPI, Elegance]_ – A magical girl (woman) who's powers derive from music. Akina fights by singing songs or sounding out single notes. Akina is a skilled and experienced magical girl, having nearly half-a-dozen years of combat under her belt. This allows her to compete with Ranma despite the fact she is slightly weaker in terms of raw strength.

_**Gondul**__**Skadadottir**__ [PPI, Invincible]_ – A Valkyrie/magical girl. She rides the spectral wolf, Garmr. Beautiful and ferocious, Gondul wields her spear in battle with the skill of a master martial artist. Unlike Chiyo and the Director, Gondul doesn't have crazy spiritual power, but she makes up for it with experience and talent. Her defense, invincible, is rare manifestation. When attacked, Gondul ignores and absorbs attacks suffering only minor harm and knock back.

Gondul possess several magic tools include a drinking horn that can take away and restore memories, a dancing sword that can fight on its own if its wielder is wise, and the legendary spear Gungnir.

**Tenki: Why Magical Girls**

There were lots of good questions about tenki last chapter and that reminded me of a little essay I wrote up but forgot to tag to the end of the last chapter. This essay was intended to preemptively address questions that could reasonable result from facts I never had the chance to present. Specifically, the deep underlying reason as to 'why magical girls?'

To understand tenki, it is first necessary to understand priest techniques. Within the scope of this story priest techniques are techniques that rely upon the 'perfection of spirit' to purify or seal evil. Spiritual perfection here, more than anything, means perfect _purity_. This in turn requires absolute dedication to a selfless goal. Traditionally, the purity needed for these techniques is sought through the pursuit of religion and the willful abandonment of all worldly desires (hence 'priest techniques').

Humans that have a high levels of 'talent' for priest magic are rare, as this requires a natural tendency to produce a pure aura. Commonly, masters of priest techniques are individuals born with the 'soul of a saint'. However, since purity is the only requirement, there are numerous users of priest techniques that possess dubious moral views.

Now, simply acquiring a level of purity sufficient to _use_ priest techniques isn't hard. Most humans have sufficient compatibility to reach the most basic levels, given several years of dedicated training. Transformation (e.g. nirvana, enlightenment) is, on the other hand, nearly impossible to achieve through traditional methods. Great men have spent their entire lives and failed to obtain this desired state. The number of humans that have done so throughout history can be counted on two hands.

Ranma is completely incapable of reaching nirvana. He has a hard enough time producing the pure aura required for even basic priest techniques. This is what Ranma means when he says he has no talent in the area.

Now, humans are creatures that seek shortcuts, and in doing so they found plenty of other paths to transformation. Most of these methods, however, come with horrific costs. The traditional opposite of enlightenment is to utterly reject the world by sinking into decadent selfishness (e.g. to seek pure evil). The resulting transformation produces what can only be described as a demon... though many demons would reject the notion that something so vile is in any way related to them.

Needless to say, decent people don't turn themselves into monsters. For those that do not wish to sink to such a level there is a generally easier and safer path: tenki.

What tenki does is make use of the fact that _beauty_ and _purity_ are mystically associated. Because of this an aura of beauty can, oddly enough, be used to purify. With this pseudo purity trait self-purification becomes possible and through that means, transformation.

Now, what makes tenki special is the numerous benefits an aura of beauty offers. First is that the mystical purity associated with beauty is '_false_'and therefore transformation is easier because it is always easier to create 'false perfection' than 'real perfection'. This is only amplified by the fact that beauty itself is only '_skin deep_' meaning that a facade of beauty is sufficient for tenki. Similarly, the depth of the spiritual transformation is shallower, lessening the potential for fatal spiritual damage.

Second is that beauty is somewhat subjective (_'in the eye of the beholder'_). This means there are many avenues to creating perfect beauty, and further, the user's '_faith_' in their own perfection has mystical weight.

Finally, beauty is overt. This means that sensing and evaluating the perfection of a megami no ooi is much, much easier. This, in turn, makes it easier for a user to make changes to their aura (or state of dress) and determine whether these changes make their megami no ooi more or less perfect. In extreme cases an individual skilled at manipulating spiritual energies could directly alter their aura until sufficient perfection is reached.

All of these make tenki comparatively easy. In fact, tenki is the _easiest_ known way to achieve transformation... at least assuming that the subject in question is good looking...

This, of course, leaves the remaining question: why magical _girls_? The answer again is influenced by multiple traits.

The first reasons are purely mystical. Females, through their ability to give birth, have stronger mystical associations to creation and life than men. This makes tenki, the creation of a fantasy universe, easier and safer. Likewise, the mystical association between beauty, perfection, and purity is stronger for females than males.

The next reason is cultural. Due to culture women have better access to body modification (cosmetics, etc...) than men. They also have better access to elaborate clothes and other beauty enhancers. This makes constructing a facade of beauty easier for women than men. Beauty is also culturally more important to women, so women are, by and large, closer to the requirements for tenki in the first place.

In the case of Ranma there are two additional reasons. First is that Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon greatly advantaged Ranma's female side. The second was that Ranma didn't fully understand tenki. He wasn't sure that it was _safe_ to use tenki as a man and wasn't willing to risk killing himself in the attempt without at least minimal confirmation that it could work.


	6. Belly of the Beast

**Author's Forward –** Whew, after a long month I'm mostly through the worst of the catch up editing. Hopefully, I'll have the draft of chapter 10 complete by the time the next chapter is released with the resumption of standard progress there after.

Again, thanks to everyone that reviewed.

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 6: Belly of the Beast**

-oOo-

Pain was an old foe. I had trained against pain. I had defeated pain. I did not fear it. But this was not pain. This was _agony_.

With a helpless whimper, my fingers slipped from the silver frame bound to my head. A tiara, no different from the one Ukyou wore. I hadn't understood then, her weakness, but now it had been made real. _Agony_. The force of it was so great that even the briefest taste made me tremble at the prospect of facing more. Even the echoes of it held me on the ground, limbs twitching, thick drops of water gathering in my eyes and streaming across my cheeks.

But, for all the power _agony_ held, I could not stay my hands. Slowly, fearfully, my fingers crawled their way back up to the headdress. Hesitantly, they touched the warm metal, tracing the ridges, and hoops of silver wire. Then, with all my strength, I pulled.

Silently, I cried out, my scream vanished by the clenching of my throat. It lasted a bare second. I didn't have the willpower left to try longer than that.

Curled up on the floor, I cursed myself. Useless. It was useless. Two days of erratic attempts, and I had yet to relieve myself of the tiara. If anything, my efforts became ever more feeble. That was the truth. I knew it, intellectually, even if I still rejected it emotionally. I would not remove the tiara with stubbornness and strength.

After several minutes spent recovering, I pulled myself from the floor and staggered over to the bed. Dispirited, I gazed at my prison. It was a simple room, not rich enough to be called gilded, but no stretch of imagination would deem it a dungeon.

My cell had an attached bathroom with a tub too small for a proper soak. The bed and living rooms were conjoined, the only sign of separation a short wall and a different colored carpet. The bedroom was tiny and contained a single dresser, a closet, and a European bed with a ruffled canopy. While it looked silly, it was comfortable. A bit too soft, but it was better than frozen rock.

The Institute had provided a broad selection of clothes, ranging from tomboyish to cute. Not a single garment could be called unisex, but the bulk of it was tolerable. In the bathroom were hygiene supplies and all the other things girls seemed to need, including makeup. Thus far, I had ignored the last, but I remained wary of its presence. I had no doubt that the Pretty Princess Institute would impose a dress code.

All in all, the biggest problem was the lack of entertainment. In the medium sized living room was a bookshelf filled tomes, dry texts interspersed with literature. A cabinet was filled with school supplies, and there were a pair of chairs and a desk for me to work on. If I was a diligent student, I would have had plenty to keep me occupied. Instead, I was already feeling constrained.

To absolve my boredom, I practiced. The living room was too small for serious training but, by shoving all the furniture to the side, I had enough space for slow kata and basic exercise.

As prisons went, it wasn't that bad. I had lived in worse. No, it was the Institute itself that was terrible. The looming threat of brainwashing had my nerves on end, and _agony_ had worn me out emotionally. Then there were the rules.

I knew the first rule well. Any attempt to remove the tiara resulted in _agony_. _Agony_ was nothing short of mind numbing, all consuming torture. It was a poisonous pain that burned its way into the brain and stuck. Two dozen times. I had tried to remove the tiara no more than that. At first it had been easy. Now, when I lifted my hands, they shook. When I set my fingers on the headdress, my stomach twisted. When I tightened my grip, my whole body would quiver and tears would leak from my eyes.

One day, I feared, I would get sick just thinking about it.

I'll try again. After lunch. I promised myself that. I had to promise it. If I didn't, I was sure I would start coming up with excuses to not try.

The second rule I had learned during my third, more refined, attempt to remove the tiara. External control of ki resulted in _agony_. It was a different _agony_ than what came with the removal attempts. It was sharp, fast, hard, and utterly shattered my concentration. Really, the rule was pointless. The gem embedded choker that wrapped my neck already scrambled my control.

The double lock nature of the two devices tickled my pride. Unlike Ukyou, I was clearly too dangerous to be restrained by the tiara alone. But what little enthusiasm I gained from my captor's wariness was dampened by the fact the collar put a giant monkey wrench into my escape plans.

There were other, less obvious, rules. Time spent as a man would result in throbbing, five minute pulses of _agony _followed by a similar length periods of respite. The _agony_ of remaining male was mild and, at first, caused no more than discomfort. However, with each pulse the _agony_ grew worse. By the time two hours had passed it became great enough to put me on the ground writhing in pain.

Even my stubbornness had limits, which was why I was wearing my cursed form now.

Then, there was the rule I hated most of all. Don't step out the door.

It was silly how I despised that rule over all others, but there was a special sort of cruelty to it. You see, my room was unlocked. There was no guard standing outside to stop me. There were no barriers put down to slow my escape. By all rights, I should have been free to walk away.

A lie.

If I stepped out of the room, I would receive _agony_. The true nastiness, however, was only revealed to those that persisted. With each step taken, the _agony_ grew worse. It pierced the brain with thirty second pulses followed by tiny, ten second gaps for recovery.

Thirty paces. That's how far I had made it before _agony_ had knocked me unconscious.

What had followed, had been hell. Thirty paces should have taken me half that many seconds to cross, but stricken by _agony_ it had eaten five minutes. Five minutes of disorientation, hallucination, and pain. Five minutes of crawling across the floor. Five minutes of trying to remember where I was and what I needed to do.

Five minutes. I didn't remember any of it except the suffering. It was pain, endless pain, until I had reached the edge of the door.

The scar that had left was so deep that I had yet to muster the courage to try again. Likely, I never would.

Did that make me a coward? Did that make me weak? I didn't know. But I knew if I could just get the damn tiara off it wouldn't matter. The tiara was the linchpin. While that device was welded to my head, there was little hope for escape. That was the conclusion I had reached.

So, with erratic breath and quaking hands, I grasped the headdress once again. My thumb traced the uneven surface, counting the glass gems embedded in the silver frame.

One more try. Thats all. Just one. Come on, Ranma, you can do this.

The cheers of courage fell flat. I couldn't make my fingers clench.

I closed my eyes. I won't lose, I told myself. Not to Pop. Not to Happosai. Not to the Akina, Gondul, or even Chiyo. And most certainly not to an inanimate object.

My hands curled into fists. I took a deep breath and moved to-

"I wouldn't recommend doing that," a woman interrupted with a brisk voice.

I released the tiara, unable to hide my relief. The speaker had straight, shoulder length, black hair. She wore a simple sweater, a comfortable pair of dark pants, and low heeled pumps. Light makeup and austere jewelery emphasized beauty and professionalism. She surveyed me, lightly tapping a pen against the clipboard in her left hand.

"We haven't met. I am Doctor Kamiko Ogura. You may refer to me as Kamiko-sensei or Kamiko-senpai. While it is highly unusual, I'll be taking a direct involvement in your transition here at the Pretty Princess Institute."

I stared at Kamiko. I remembered her name. This was the woman who had her 'eye' on Ukyou and Akane. I also remembered the thread of fear in Ukyou's voice when she'd dropped the name 'Ogura'. No doubt, this woman's presence meant my brainwashing was about to begin.

Not to be intimidated, I put on a brave front.

"You can go to hell for all I care, Kamiko-chan."

_Agony_ crashed into me and knocked me to the floor. I was inundated in torment for seconds. Then, as quickly as it came, it ceased. I drew shuddering breaths, and blinked away the tears so Kamiko wouldn't see.

"In the future I expect a more pleasant greeting," Kamiko said. She scanned the room, seeming unaware of my plight. "You have rearranged the furniture. Please place two chairs on either side of the table so that we will have somewhere to sit."

I rolled up off the ground and pointedly folded my arms and legs. Kamiko waited silently for me to move. I glared at her and dared the worst.

She delivered.

_Agony_ dragged me into the abyss. _Laughing, the gang stood over my broken body and kicked and kicked and kicked. Blood poured from my mouth. Darkness threatened my consciousness, but ice cold water dashed it aside. Female, surrounded by hate, the nightmare became-_

I swayed and realized that _agony_ had ended. With my vision blurred and the room awhirl, I wondered how it was that I was still sitting. I looked up at Kamiko. Her expression was unchanged. I trembled. My mouth suddenly felt dry.

_I won't lose_.

My gaze turned defiant.

Kamiko sighed. "Even after two days you still try to take the tiara off. Now this." Kamiko shook her head. "Your obstinacy is becoming problematic."

Kamiko stepped forward and snagged my chin with a hand. She jerked my head up, so that our gazes met. My glare did not waver when I stared into her hawk-like hazel eyes.

"Stand," she commanded.

I stood.

Huh?

I blinked and tried to grasp what had happened. Why did I- Self reflection was annihilated by a typhoon of heaven. The elation of my first victory. The thrill of riding swirling wind to a tornado's summit. The taste of parfait won through girlish charm. Napping on a warm night under a curtain of stars.

_Bliss_.

I staggered. Up became down and I started to fall. A strong hand caught my shoulder and offered support. I looked up and found Kamiko. _Hunger_. An incredible desire pierced the fog of my mind. _Bliss_. I _needed _more.

Kamiko patted me on the head. Each touch was the beat of a drum. I shivered, every nerve tingling with pleasure.

"Good girl," she said, her words echoing through my brain as though spoken by God. "Now rearrange the furniture, please."

I surged forward, eager to do as I was told. My hands settled on the small square table. I stopped. Pain shot through my head and ran like fire down my spine. What was I doing? I stared at the smooth, stained wood that was the table's top. My eyes drifted back to Kamiko.

The tall, professionally dressed woman wasn't paying any attention. She stood, her eyes fixated on random space while her pen tapped a steady beat against her clipboard.

I straighted my body and stepped away from the table. I wasn't going to help her. I'm Ranma Saotome, not a _good girl_. If Kamiko wanted me to move the furniture then she would damn well have to make me-

My body shuddered. My breath flowed fast. Incredible longing filled me like a cup. Yeah, she'd have to make me do it. Just like before. Come on, Kamiko, control me. Please. Please, control me. Just one more time...

Horrible disgust drowned out the feeling that had overtaken me.

Control... me? What was I thinking? Sick horror settled in. No. I would never allow it. But... what was I supposed to do? Be a good girl and move the furniture like she asked? That was... surrender.

My guts twisted. The rules of the game had been changed. If Kamiko could use _bliss__,_ then how was I supposed to fight? And if I did, how long would it be before I begged to be controlled?

Frustrated, I grabbed the table and jerked it back. In an act of petty vengeance, I positioned the chairs so that Kamiko had no more than a hand span of space between the table and the wall. Sitting heavily into my seat, which had the whole room behind it, I shot Kamiko a challenging look.

Go ahead, bitch. Punish me for this, too.

With mixed terror and anticipation, I watched Kamiko, wondering what she would do. The hazel eyed woman had a little frown on her lips. She drummed her fingers on the table's surface. Then, without saying anything, she slipping around back, but not before using her hips to shift the table a dozen centimeters further from the wall.

I relaxed and felt a pinch of disappointment. I wondered, was that because Kamiko had ignored my sabotage? or because she had not used _bliss_ to force better behavior?

Kamiko set her clipboard on the table and uncapped her pen. The sound distracted me from my reverie.

"We will start with some simple questions to establish a baseline," Kamiko said. "Name, please."

I shot her an incredulous look. "What?"

_Agony_, at least that was what it would have been if it had lasted for more than a blink of an eye. This was a mere pin prick of suffering, an assault no more damaging than a slap to the face.

"Answer the question," Kamiko said, not looking up from her clipboard.

"Ranma Saotome," I grumbled. Annoyed and rebellious, I added, "But you can call me Ranma-sama if you prefer."

My smirk wavered when an infinitesimal flicker of _bliss_ passed through me.

"Better," Kamiko commended. "Sex?"

I paused, my chair standing still at the threshold. If I went even a millimeter further back, the legs would slide from underneath it and I would fall. Frozen at that peak, I scrutinized Kamiko's expression. Her face gave no hint of her intention.

Not that the threat of _agony_ would change my answer.

"Male." No _bliss_ that time.

"Favorite color?" "Red." "Hobby?" "Martial Arts." "Favorite school subject?" "Gym."

"Hmm," Kamiko hummed. She went silent while she jotted down a long note.

I glared across the table. I was pissed. Pissed from the _agony__,_ and pissed that I had suffered only to delay stupid questions.

"Excellent," Kamiko said, folding the topmost paper over her clipboard. "Now let's go over this again. For your name, we'll stick with Saotome for now. Would you prefer I use _chan_ or _kohai_?"

My face scrunched at both titles. "Just call me Ranma."

That answer earned me a prick of _agony_.

"Formality is important to the Institute, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said, scribbling something on her paper. "And, I'm sorry, but your given name is out. The Director has stated that she has no desire for a senshi fit with a masculine name. Remember that, please, because in a couple months I'll be asking you for an alternative. If the name you offer is not acceptable, I will assign one of my choosing."

Kamiko paused briefly, then asked the next question. "Sex?"

Here it was. Kamiko had thrown down the gauntlet and I was spoiling for a fight. I leaned forward slightly, and clenched my jaw in preparation for what was coming. _Agony_ and _bliss _were terrifying weapons. But, no matter how strong they were, I had to face them if I wanted any hope of victory.

"Male."

_Agony _hit me with an almighty fist. I drowned in fire. Vomit surged up my throat only to be swallowed at the last instant. Spots danced across my eyes. I was staring at the ceiling, and my head hurt. Belatedly, I realized that my chair must have slid from underneath me.

"You know the correct answer to this question, Saotome-chan. Do not make this harder than it needs to be. Now, what is your sex?"

"I'm a guy," I growled.

A brutal lance of _agony_ skewered my mind, and my whole body quaked with seizures. When I came out of it, I was trembling.

Kamiko did not relent. "Your sex, Saotome-chan."

It took twenty seconds and three shaking breaths to force myself to give an answer. Even then, when I said it, the word was muffled. "Male."

_Fiery wind swirled around me, drier than a desert and hotter than the sun. In the dieing embers of Saffron's light, I held Akane's tiny body. The eyes of the doll slipped closed and the last wisps of ki dispersed into the burning air. No. No, no, no! Wake up! You can't die! Wake up, Akane. It was a desperate plea that went unheard. There were no gods to answer my prayers. She was dead. Deceased. Gone... forever. All my efforts had been for nothing._

_I fell to my knees, my mouth filled with ash._

_Agony _vanished. The sobs of a broken girl greeted me. It was a long time before I realized that it was I who was crying. I clenched my throat and tried to choke back the tears, but they refused to stop.

"Please, answer the question, Saotome-chan." Kamiko said tiredly. Despite her weariness, her hazel eyes did not reveal the slightest spark of sympathy. "What is your sex?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. _Agony_ was too much. All I had left was silence. I held onto that, feeling weak and pathetic. I should have stood and shouted my answer. I should have cried out that I was a man over and over again until, by sheer force of will, I made Kamiko bow. That was the path to victory.

Instead, I laid on the ground and cried like a little girl.

And hated myself for it.

Kamiko waited, dribbling her fingers on the desk. After a while, she spoke. "Failure to answer isn't acceptable either, Saotome-chan."

Two minutes of recovery had me feeling a bit more daring. "Guess you're going to have to torture me into compliance then," I croaked.

"Operant conditioning, not torture," Kamiko explained. She stood and walked around the table. "Operant conditioning is a behavioral modification technique. A crude one, but it serves as a foundation for more sophisticated and thorough methods. The use of punishment is nothing more than a means, Saotome-chan. If you do not wish to be punished, please display at least a minimal level of cooperation."

Kamiko stooped down next to me and placed a hand on my forehead. Tingling waves of fire and ice spread from her touch. I drew a sharp breath and tensed. _Don't – Please_, internally I begged for both outcomes.

"Now, Saotome-chan, answer the question correctly, or I will coerce you into doing my bidding as I did when you refused to move the furniture."

"If you can do that, why bother asking?"

"Because direct use of my magic is highly addictive and can degrade cognition. The Director doesn't want a drooling idiot, and I have no desire to have simpering puppy nipping at my heels. I will not explain myself further. This is your last chance, Saotome-chan. Answer the question freely, or answer at the behest of my magic. What is your sex?"

Disgust. It twisted my insides. Damn it. Pride demanded I keep fighting, but logic insisted that I was being stupid. Then there was the allure of _bliss_. My whole body quivered in anticipation. I could already feel tingles of pleasure running along my skin. Fight. Fight, so that she'll control me. One more push and I'll be hers. _Bliss_. I hungered for it. It tunneled my vision and made me want to wrap myself in chains so that I could never escape.

_Bliss_ would destroy me.

It's just a word, Ranma. A stupid word. You don't even have to mean it. Yet, if I said it now, how could I refuse the next time Kamiko asked? And it wouldn't end here. There would be more, and more, and more, until I gave her everything.

... win the war not the battle...

It was easy to think it. It hurt a lot more to eat my pride and say what had to be said.

"Right now, I'm a girl," I admitted between clenched teeth. "But next time I get hit by hot water, I'll be a guy again. That good enough for you?"

"I will accept that answer today," Kamiko stated.

She paused then moved her hand from my forehead to my tiara. An electric discharge pulsed through the headdress, and a chill swept through my skin causing goose bumps to rise. Kamiko stood and navigated back to her chair.

"I added a new rule to your tiara, Saotome-chan. Any future attempt to refer to yourself as a man, directly or indirectly, will result in punishment. If you wish to avoid additional rules in the future, I recommend your obedience be more prompt. Return to your seat, please."

"Fat chance of that," I grumbled, crawling off the floor and pulling my chair upright. It galled me to do as she asked, but I'd rather be sitting as an equal than be curled up on the ground in a pathetic lump.

"I suspect so," Kamiko replied, dry humor evident. "Next question. Favorite color?"

With a heavy thud I dropped my feet on the table. "Is there a point to this?" I winced when _agony_ hit me, but refused to budge.

"Yes, Saotome-chan, there is. I would hardly bother wasting my time otherwise. Favorite color, please."

"Red."

Kamiko didn't write anything down. "I'm afraid your choices are white, black, and pink."

A bitter laugh escaped me. "What? Are 'girls' not allowed to like red?"

"Hardly. I favor red myself," Kamiko said. "The colors I listed are a product of your tenki, the major theme colors of which are: white, black, and pink. Please choose one, or I'll choose for you."

I opened my mouth to give a retort, then snapped it closed. "Black, then," I muttered.

I grimaced a second later. Black reminded me too much of Kodachi. Should have gone with white.

"Black it is." Kamiko said, scrawling on her clipboard. "Hobby?"

"Why bother asking if it has already been decided?"

"Just answer the question, Saotome-chan."

"Martial Arts, obviously. Or did you want me to say flower arranging?" I pulled my feet off the desk and let my chair fall forward with a clatter. "You know what? I'm sick of this. Just tell me what you want so we can get this over with."

"Your interest in martial arts is entirely acceptable, Saotome-chan. Doubly so with your status as a senshi," Kamiko said. "However, Michiko has asked that you take up a fabrication related skill. Since I doubt you have any meaningful input, I am writing down, 'martial arts and sewing'. Now please restate your hobbies, Saotome-chan." Kamiko paused, then added. "Correctly."

"I like martial arts and sewing," I said with a monotone voice. A pinch of _bliss_ came with my answer.

Kamiko smiled. "Very good, Saotome-chan. Now the final question is 'favorite school subject'. A valid answer is any of the core educational classes. No, that does not include gym. It doesn't include home economics either, if you were wondering. Now please choose the subject you find most tolerable."

I folded my hands together in front of me in a girlish pose. "But, Kamiko-sensei, how could I possibly choose?" I gushed with saccharine sarcasm. "The beauty of an equation unraveling before me, the mysteries of the cosmos laid bare, the elegance of the written word, and the great wonders of the ancient world, I love them all!" I proclaimed, spreading my arms wide. I dropped my arms, and shifted to a deadpan a second later. "You aren't going to write that down, are you?"

Kamiko finished scrawling a long note on her clipboard. "Even with my talents I doubt I could inspire such a broad range of academic interest. 'Aspiring scholar,' was the answer I recorded. Be aware that, as a senshi, you will be required to score in the upper tenth on all national tests."

I snorted. The world would end before I scored in the upper tenth. Normally I floundered in the bottom half, and only pride made me study hard enough to achieve that. "We done then?"

"With this? Yes," Kamiko answered, standing.

Kamiko stepped around the table and stopped next to me. She unclipped several thin sheets of paper and placed them on the table. I glanced down to see what it was.

_Required Lines. Repeat aloud morning and night_. I read down further and scowled. The opening alone was enough to make me sick.

_I exist to serve the Pretty Princess Institute. The Director's dreams are my dreams. The Director wants to build a better future. The Pretty Princess Institute is family. The senshi are my sisters. I love my sisters. I am so happy that I get to work with my sisters and make the world a better place. I trust the Director. The Director is a great woman. I will help the Director build an eternal dynasty..._

... It went on and on. There were five more pages of that crap. I suspected that not a word of it was any better.

"What the hell-" A sudden surge of _agony_ cut me off.

"Profanity is forbidden," Kamiko chided. "Be sure to complete those lines morning and night, Saotome-chan. Failure to do so will result in automatic and persistent punishment."

An ugly expression crossed my face and I continued to stare at the pages in front of me. Slowly, my fists tightened. Paper crinkled. _Crsshh. _I tore the bundle and half. _Crsshh._ I tore it again. _Crsshh_. And again. I continued to rip until nothing was left. Little knives of _agony_ punished my disobedience, but I ignored them while I scattered the paper on the table.

"You can forget that," I said.

Kamiko sighed. "I will instruct the girls to bring additional copies when the tiara's punishment mechanism runs for a period greater than half-an-hour. Now follow me."

Kamiko walked across the room and to the forbidden door. I paced behind her, not willing to face _agony_ for such a minor request. When she opened the door and stepped out, I found myself frozen at the edge. A shudder ran through me, and I closed my eyes. Come on, Ranma. There wasn't anything there to be scared of. Kamiko was not vile enough to lead me out here just to torture me. With a gulp, I stepped forward.

Nothing. I opened my eyes and met Kamiko's. Every muscle remained tense, waiting for inevitable _agony. _That stiffness vanished slowly.

Kamiko watched me for a few seconds then turned away and walked down the hall.

"As long as you are with an escort, you may leave your room, Saotome-chan," Kamiko explained. "The button above the light switch will call someone. Do not hesitate to use it. As a senshi, most of the Institute exists to serve you. However, please remain aware that you will need your escort's verbal permission to step out of the room. Also, you must remain with your escort at all times. I do not recommend violating that rule. The punishment is quite severe."

I gave a small grunt of acknowledgment. Room service button. Got it. I'd be sure to see how far I could abuse it in the next few days. Somehow I doubted 'help me escape' was a valid request, 'senshi' or not.

The corridors were beige and boring. Two turns took us past a small desk. The girl sitting behind it snapped her paperback closed and jumped to her feet as we walked by. She made a small curtsy in our direction, which Kamiko answered with a dismissive nod. Uninterested, I switched my eyes back to the intermittent doors, each identified by numbered plaques on the side.

Was Akane behind one of them, I wondered. How was she holding out? It was hard for me to imagine Akane taking the Institute's abuse without putting up a fuss. A fuss that would be punished with _agony_. In two days I had suffered greater torment than ever before. Akane had been here longer than that.

How long? I didn't know. If I added my time at the Institute to the time before my rescue I got four days. But my perspective was skewed. I had fought Gondul in the cathedral. Afterwards, I had awoken in my one-bedroom cell. The time between was missing. My gut feeling was that I had been out for less than a week but more than a day. However, if I went by how my wounds had healed, I would have guessed a period closer to a month.

I assuaged my fears by reminding myself that this was a magical girl school and, as such, they had access to magic. It was hard to believe that the Institute had kept me out while my injuries healed naturally.

Either way, the missing time was frightening. The Institute had already used it to weld a tiara to my head and further chain me with the choker. And that was only the things I knew about. Had the Institute done something even more nefarious? I didn't know. I didn't sense or feel anything different about myself, so I figured I was alright. Akane, on the other hand, remained a mystery.

Was she already like Kodachi, a twisted toy that bowed and scraped for her master? I didn't want to believe it. No, I outright refused to believe it. I told myself that Akane was just like Ukyou, an imprisoned soldier biding her time until an opportunity for escape revealed itself.

It was a fantasy that rotted away into doubt. It wasn't enough to tell myself Akane was okay. I needed to know it. I had to see, with my own eyes, whether she could still be saved. I glanced up at Kamiko. I knew she would know and, as much as I didn't like the idea of asking her anything, Akane was more important.

"Akane," I broached, as we stepped into the cathedral. "Can I see her?"

Our footsteps echoed off the stone floor. Indigo and yellow light filtered through the stained glass windows and illuminated the dim chamber. The cathedral was empty, and there were no signs of the battle I had fought. The pews stood untouched and the ancient walls were undamaged. We moved through the temple quickly, exiting through an eastern pair of doors that took me into the more familiar school-like wing.

The east-wing was repaired but ragged. An entire hall remained blocked off by yellow tape, and many of the walls had fissures running through them. We walked beneath a giant hole through which I could see the second floor. As severe as it was, that the school had been rebuilt to this extent was impressive.

"You may see Akane after your first adjustment," Kamiko answered, climbing a stairwell to the third floor. "But only if you become more cooperative."

I recognized this part of the building. We were not far from the faculty offices. "How is she doing?" I pressed.

"Akane had a rough start. But, since her adjustment, she has been adapting quickly. Not the answer you desired, I'm sure."

Kamiko stopped at the top of the stairs. A pair of girls rushed toward us. Lilac took the lead, dragging behind her a terrified brownish-blond I didn't recognize.

"Yes, Naomi-chan?" Kamiko asked, sounding annoyed.

Naomi, or Lilac as I thought of her, came to a halt in front of Kamiko, and dipped into curtsy. The other girl attempted the same, but stumbled forward when Lilac jerked her to the front.

"Ogura-sensei," Lilac started briskly. "Kanade refuses to-"

"Ahem," Kamiko interrupted. "I believe there are two senshi present. Greet Saotome-chan properly. _ Sama_ or _hime_ will do."

As much as it would have amused me to watch Lilac grovel, I didn't find pleasant the idea of making the other girl do the same.

"Don't bother. Nobody needs to be bowing to me."

"Formality will not broken. Not by you, Saotome-chan, and not by them," Kamiko countermanded. "Quickly, please, then we'll proceed to my office."

Lilac's face flushed red with embarrassment, and she shot me a glance of barely smothered murder. Nevertheless, Lilac dipped into formal curtsy. "Saotome-sama."

Kanade echoed the curtsy, her movements less graceful but infinitely kinder. "Saotome-hime."

I stared at them both, then purposefully looked away. I didn't know the correct protocol for reply. I didn't want to learn it either.

"Better but, in the future, please remember that Saotome-chan's station is above yours even while she remains in training," Kamiko lectured. She resumed walking. "My office, please."

It was only one more long hall until Kamiko's office. The room was exactly as I remembered it. Executive chair, heavy wooden desk, bronze nameplate, and stools along the wall. The stacks of paper, if anything, were higher and a bit disheveled. Even that slight touch of chaos looked rebellious in the otherwise neatly ordered room.

Sitting in one of the stools was yet another young woman. This girl had short, dark green hair, and a forest tinted skirt and vest. She rose from her seat the moment we stepped into the room and gave two smooth curtsies without prompt. "Ogura-sensei. Saotome-hime."

"Emiko." Kamiko closed her eyes and nursed a headache. "Nothing immediate, I hope?"

"It can wait, Ogura-sensei," Emiko answered.

"Good," Kamiko said with relief. "If you would take the time to escort Saotome-chan to Michiko's lab, I would be grateful."

"Of course, Ogura-sensei," Emiko said with a second, shallower curtsy. Emiko gave me a pretty but lifeless smile. "Saotome-hime. Follow me."

A quick walk down the hall and around a corner took us to Michiko's laboratory. The laboratory was at least thrice the size of Kamiko's office, but with all the angles and dangles it had only half the space. Here and there were cords, thick and thin. They hung from the ceiling and ran across the floor, forming an electronic jungle. The room held five tables, four of which were completely covered with stacked equipment boxes, and various devices. Little LED lights gleamed red and green, and bulky monitors displayed unfathomable data. Almost out of place within the high-tech labyrinth were the beakers and test tubes hidden betwixt rare empty gaps.

Of all the varied devices, the giant metal tube in far corner was the most prominent. The tube was huge and had a transparent plastic door big enough for a person. It was the eye of the wire storm with hundreds of cords pouring out of open panels. To the side of the tube was a rarity. A small, white, folding table, clean except for a small, black, rectangular container set atop it.

Along another wall was a steel bed with heavy medical equipment bolted to the roof above. Whatever the bed's intended use had been, it obviously hadn't seen it for some time. I knew this because the metal surface had become home to a dozen gizmos. Still, I didn't like the look of it. It was far too easy to envision a girl being dissected on its cold, steel surface.

The only thing missing was Michiko. I stood beside Emiko for a minute, tapping my foot, but after that my patience ran out and I claimed the room's only chair. It was a tall stool with a thick, black cushion. I swiveled back and forth atop the stool, raking my eyes across the four screens stacked on the table in front of me. Three showed nothing but gibberish, and the last showed only a command prompt.

I met Emiko's gaze, and raised a brow at the strange expression she wore.

"What?" I asked.

"Why did you come?" Emiko questioned softly. She sounded hesitant, as though afraid of being reprimanded.

I scowled at her. "Why did I follow you?" I let out a snort. "What else was I going to do? I'd make it maybe twenty paces before I started screaming my head off."

Emiko shook her head. "No. That isn't... I wanted to know... why. Why did you come here? To the Institute. I saw you fight. You wouldn't have lost if you had kept running. You... you could have been free."

I gave a Emiko a puzzled look. Why did she care? And where had we met anyway? I didn't recognize her. That could have been a product of magic, or, more likely, it was that I hadn't bothered to learn her features.

Eventually, I grunted and answered the question. "I wasn't going to leave Akane and Ukyou to Kamiko's tender mercies. Besides, I don't plan to stick around here long either."

Absently, I touched the metal surface of my tiara. Somehow, I was going to get the damn thing off. And, when I did, there would be hell to pay.

"I see," Emiko said, then she bowed deep, the gesture more genuine than the trained curtsies. "I'm sorry."

I folded my arms, and tried to lean back. The chair resisted. Probably a good thing, because the stool's center of balance didn't have much give. "And what, exactly, do you have to be sorry about?"

"I was there," Emiko explained. She swirled her hand a few times and made a stabbing motion, as though wielding a light object. "I... I fought your friends while you faced Rin and Naomi."

Emiko was Fencer. My eyes darkened, drinking in her features. Without the armor, she wasn't as recognizable. But, now that I knew who Emiko was, I could see it. Suddenly I found myself liking Emiko a whole lot less.

"If you want to apologize, do it to Yuka," I growled. "She's the one that got hurt. In fact, why don't you apologize to everyone in my class."

Emiko recoiled as though struck. "I'm sorry," Emiko said, bowing a second time. "You are correct, Saotome-hime. The action I took was reprehensible."

I scowled again and looked away. "Whatever," I dismissed. "Just stop calling me _hime_, okay?"

"As you wish, Saotome-sama," Emiko replied, making another reflexive curtsy.

"Drop the _sama_ too," I added. "And forget the curtsies. I'm not royalty."

Emiko stopped in a half curtsy, a strange twisting expression crisscrossing her face. "I... I don't. I..."

"Rules defined by the Institute are primary," Michiko said, striding into the room.

Michiko was a giant in her silver heels, towering over my small frame. She swept into the room, her lab coat billowing behind. Cold, steel-blue eyes jumped to Emiko, dismissed her, then fixated on me.

Something like relief took Emiko, and she quickly curtsied to the new arrival. "Nishimura-sensei," she said before scurrying from the room.

Michiko continued to stare, her eyes burrowing into me, opening up my flesh and examining my insides. I watched her watch me, my arm propped on the table, my hand cupping my chin. Eventually, Michiko turned away, crossed the room, and began clearing the clutter from the metal bed.

"A personality construct was forcefully implanted into XT-09's spiritual matrix. Tenki was used as a vector to crystallize its presence. Repeated transformations have caused the construct to solidify and fuse with conditioned behavior.

"Result: a permanent reward and punishment mechanism that rapidly conditions any rule defined by an accepted authority. Effectively, XT-09, Emiko Watanabe, has been rendered intellectually incapable of disobedience," Michiko explained, answering a question I hadn't asked. She then stopped and looked at me. "Clothes off. On the bed."

I stood and started stripping. I'd save _agony _for something more important than clothes. "Let me guess, that's what you are going to do to me."

Even as I said the words, I grimaced. If that was what Michiko had planned, I'd need to do something right now. Problem was, my fight and flight prospects were worse than horrible. The tiara gave Michiko the power to put me down without touching me and utterly crushed any attempt to flee. Even without the tiara the fight would have been hard. Michiko had glasses that could see through walls, a barrier that was all but invincible, and weapons that didn't lack for range or penetrative capacity.

Basically, no matter what I did, Michiko would have me on the ground in seconds.

Then the cynical part of me spoke up and shot down even those tiny glimmers of hope. I had been unconscious for an unknown length of time. If Michiko was planning on shoving a 'personality construct' into my 'spiritual matrix', she would have done so already.

Which led to a question that had been bothering me. I had experienced how fast Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon could transform a girl, so why did I still have free will? What was the point of this? Of the tiara? Of the entire torturous process?

"Negative," Michiko said, answering my earlier statement. "Subject XT-09 is designated a failure. Perfect obedience requires complicated rule sets. It is not practical, nor desirable, to define the correct behavior under every possible circumstance. More successful personality constructs utilize the human propensity for loyalty and devotion. These allow greater mental flexibility, but, in turn, introduce new problems, namely fanatical or obsessive behavior."

Michiko finished reorganizing the bed's contents by cramming the various devices into every nook and cranny left on the other tables. "Personality alteration is a young science," she lamented. "Greater study and experimentation is required before reliable results can be realized."

"Thanks. That makes me feel _a lot _better. Let's see. Do I want to be a zombie, a slave, or a zealot? Hmm, choices, choices."

I punctuated my sarcasm by crunching my clothes into a ball and tossing them onto the bed. To my surprise, _agony_ didn't come. Instead, Michiko quirked her head and observed the pile of clothes on the bed. Then she made a small nod, and turned her blue eyes back on me.

"You, on the bed. Clothes, elsewhere," Michiko said, correcting her previous command.

"What? So you can brainwash me?" I snorted. "You can forget that."

"Not brainwashing. Brainwashing is a hypothetical technique which empirical evidence suggests is impossible. Today's procedure will be: medical examination followed by spiritual modification. On the bed. Further noncompliance will be met with punishment," Michiko explained.

I didn't move. Michiko waited a few seconds then placed a hand in her lab coat pocket. That was all the warning I had before _agony_ sliced its way into my head. My vision went black and, for a second, I could feel nothing but fire. I caught myself just as _agony_ faded and prevented myself from tumbling onto the floor.

Shooting Michiko a glare, I stood and stomped my way across the room. I grabbed the bundle of clothes from the bed and threw them violently to the ground.

"Is there even a point to this?" I snapped. "Or do you guys get some sick kick out of torturing people?"

Michiko blinked. "False. I derive no pleasure from punishing you."

"Then why do it?" I asked angrily. "And don't give me that 'conditioning' bullshit. I've dealt with mind changing magics before. I was hit by Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon. Hell, you just told me what you did to Emiko. So why? Why this!"

I grabbed the tiara, fingers curling through the frame in a fist, muscles tensing to yank. _Terror._ It hit suddenly and froze me in that position. Eyes wide, I suddenly wondered what it was I was doing. Pull on the tiara as an example? How stupid could I get?

Trembling, I released my grip.

Breath in. Breath out.

Now calmer I reviewed my words and regretted them. Not for their accusations, but the because of the ideas they conveyed. In my mind an imaginary film played on loop. In it, a light bulb lit up over chibi-Michiko's head. 'Good point!' mini-Michiko said. 'We'll start using magic right away!' Yeah. Real smart, Ranma. Next time I'm fighting Ryouga, I'll give him pointers too.

"You have a misunderstanding. I will clarify," Michiko said, not looking perturbed by my rant. "Chiyo Mori's ability is unique and contains aspects deemed problematic. Subjects exposed to the 'cotton candy cocoon' exhibit dangerous mental changes – specifically, a loyalty directed solely at Chiyo.

"Experiments XT-02, Kamiko Ogura, and XT-07, Shizue Handa, were proposed to correct this deficiency. Goal: replicate the desirable mental components of Chiyo's coerced tenki, but with greater control and variance.

"Experiment XT-02: failure, later revised. XT-02's 'neural remap' ability failed to produce the desired high-speed personality rewrite. It has since proven useful when moderated through technological devices such as the tiara, but remains short of the intended goal. Regardless, XT-02 was rewarded the rank senshi for her services.

"Experiment XT-07: limited success. XT-07's ability 'dollification' does produce the intended effects of rapid, deep, and permanent personality transformation, though conversion speed remains 15% of target. Unfortunately, the resultant personality template was flawed. Subjects converted through dollification show undesirable behavioral tendencies. As such, XT-07's use is limited to hybrid approaches and extreme punishment.

"As the XT-02 and XT-07 experiments have failed, the XT-11 experiment was proposed."

"Me," I filled in.

"Affirmative," Michiko confirmed. "Experiment XT-11, goal: replicate the successful aspects of the XT-07 experiment with a more desirable personality template. Subject Ranma Saotome was selected from a list of girls exhibiting potential. Reasons: stabilized Jusenkyou curse, strong personality, and high spiritual power. All traits, once modified, are projected to produce higher speed and more thorough conversion. Secondary consideration: the subject's personality subtype makes it unlikely that the undesirable aspects of the XT-07 experiment will recur."

I snorted out a half-laugh. "So I'm supposed to be the Pretty Princess Institute's brand new magical girl factory," I said bitterly.

If someone else had said it, I might have laughed for real. But Michiko made it sound all too plausible. The clinical way she stated my fate sent chills down my spine, and the cold, crisp logic behind it was a thing of nightmares. I was no mathematician, but I didn't need to be one to see how things could add up. Chiyo's cocoon worked fast, in hours. If I could convert a girl a day, that was thirty a month and three-hundred-sixty-five a year. Hikaru had said the Institute was, what, two-hundred something? If the Institute achieved its goal, it could double its size in a year. Triple it in two...

... and that was assuming that, once the first 'magical girl factory' had been built, they couldn't build more.

The Institute was setting itself up to start growing very, very fast.

Which led to a disturbing question. What, exactly, did the Institute need thousands of magical girls for? But that question answered itself. In the end, there was only one reason to build an army of that size. Conquest.

Thankfully, that was still in the distant future. For me, what mattered was the Institute lacked its factory. I had time. Michiko couldn't rewrite my personality in a single day. I could escape. No, better than that, Akane could escape. I hadn't lost yet, and I wasn't seconds from losing.

That was where the 'good news' ended.

I was XT-11, a human experiment. If that wasn't enough to give me the jitters, Michiko had all but said that she was planning to modify my curse. It didn't take a genius to figure out how that would end. The Institute was a school for magical _girls_, run by magical _girls_, and dedicated to the creation of magical _girls_. The ability to turn male would be an unnecessary inconvenience in the eyes of the Institute. If the Institute had the power to lock my curse, it would certain do so.

And there was nothing I could do to stop them.

"Lay down," Michiko ordered.

She didn't wait for me to take action but instead pushed me down onto the icy metal bed. Warm hands poked and prodded while Michiko examined my skin through her glasses. Occasionally her fingers would play on the rims, selecting different visual settings.

The process was clinical and detached. Content to let Michiko do her work, I scanned the laboratory once more. My eyes fell on the tall tube in the corner. The tube was clearly intended for humans. I wondered what it was for.

I had a nasty feeling that I was going to find out.

"Your recovery is faster than expected even when magical assistance is accounted for," Michiko commented. "Is my speculation correct? were you trained to augment your healing with life energy?"

Michiko peered at the cut in my right breast. The only sign of the old wound was two dozen stitches and a smooth line of white that sliced through the organ. Michiko must have been satisfied because she pulled out a pair of clippers and tweezers and started removing them.

"Yeah," I answered. "Pop likes to put me through all sorts of dangerous training. If he hadn't spent so much time teaching me to heal fast when I was young, I would have spent half my life laid up in a hospital bed."

Michiko moved fast and had the last stitch out by the time I'd finished my reply. Then she went through the discomforting process of re-examining the wound a second time.

"There will be scarring, but refrain from concern. The spiritual modification process utilizes a tenki-like techno-arcane mechanism. Repeated tenki quickly eliminates superficial defects. Also, do not be alarmed by minor physical alterations. These are normal. Spiritual modification accelerates the standard tenki carry-over process. There are no known medical risks, but, for scientific reasons, inform me of any change you notice."

"Scarring was the furthest thing from my mind, but _thanks_ for curing my worries," I retorted, not bothering to hide my sarcasm. "Is there anything else I need to know? I wouldn't want to leave here with less than a week's worth of nightmares."

Michiko stepped away from the steel bed and walked to the computer bank I had been sitting at before.

"No. Proceed to the chamber. Place any item of personal value on the table, as spiritual modification can cause the destruction of existing physical objects. The small container already occupying the desk is yours."

Hopping off the steel bed, I glanced at Michiko and noted her back was turned. With swift steps, I scurried across the lab. I stopped at the tall tube I assumed was the chamber. I ignored the table for now and instead scrutinized the open panels. There! I reached in and ripped out a small computer card. A series of glowing green lights went dark the moment I removed the component. I hoped that meant the card was important.

Since I currently had no pockets, I palmed the card, holding it so Michiko wouldn't see. With my sabotage complete, I turned my eyes to the small table at the side. The only personal item I had was a dragon's whisker, which I used to tie my hair into its pigtail. It didn't have any real value, but I had used it for years. To preserve the memento, I set it on the table. Then, curious, I picked up the rectangular container Michiko said belonged to me. It was black, plastic, and had a simple latch. I thumbed it open.

"Glasses?" I said in surprise.

Thin frames of metallic silver, and square lenses. They weren't the same, but the glasses had a style reminiscent of the ones Michiko wore.

"You showed prior interest in my ocular device. I understood that to mean a similar pair would constitute an acceptable gift. Am I in error?" Michiko quirked her head to the side, as though examining a particularly difficult question.

I pulled the out the glasses, and tossed the case back onto the table. A tap of the rims lit up a series of selection boxes. I couldn't stop a grin from spreading. Cool. Confusion followed afterwards, and I made my question verbal. "Why?"

"You prevented my death." There was a touch of affection in Michiko's answer. That emotion was replaced by clinical speech when Michiko continued. "Step into the tube and wear the glasses when doing so. They will be integrated with your tenki."

My hand settled around the aluminum handle bolted into the plastic door. I paused there, pinning the hidden component against the inside of my wrist. Looking over my shoulder, I caught Michiko's eye.

"Doesn't playing with peoples' minds bother you?" I asked suddenly. "I mean, this stuff could happen to you."

Michiko glanced up from her computer, her fingers not stopping their machine gun bursts. Her voice carried over the soft clacking of her typing. "Two years, three months, twenty-three days – for a period of that length, I lack any memory," Michiko answered with vague words. "Logic and subsequent investigation indicate that I was subject to crude personality altering techniques at the hands of the Director. The lack of memory is, most likely, a result of Gondul's drinking horn – a technique used in early modification attempts in order to reduce trauma or to remove specific objections to the Institute's methods.

"My service record thereafter contains forty-three demerits, and two severe reprimands. As such, I underwent a second re-education at the hands of Kamiko Ogura three years after the completion of the XT-02 experiment. My service record contains only a single demerit since. Conclusion: the probability of future alterations to my personality is low."

Michiko's clear, crisp statements were a hammer blow to my conceptions. I stared at her, my jaw hanging open from the shock. My eyes searched desperately for the hint of a lie. Nothing. At first I refused to accept it. Kamiko, XT-02, a victim. Michiko, another victim. Emiko, a victim. Where _any_ of the girls here of their own free will? Was Akina likewise enslaved? How about Gondul? or, hell, Chiyo?

It was mind boggling. How was I supposed to hate people who, for all intents and purposes, were innocent? And, if I did hate them, then what did that make me? A monster. Yet, how could I not feel curdling anger when they inflicted this horror upon me?

It made me sick. The Institute was a demon. A demon that ate girls. And it was growing bigger with each girl it ate, which only made it eat them faster.

For the first time I found myself wanting to do more than save Akane. The Institute... it had to be destroyed. The cycle had to end. To let this run on, to let girls be devoured one after another, that was an evil without peer. But what could I do? I was a martial artist. A nobody. Sure, I was strong... but stronger than an army? This was a fight that wouldn't end easily. I was no hero. I had never wanted to be one.

Save Ukyou. Save Akane. Ignore the rest. That was my way.

But, when I escaped this place, would I still be satisfied with that? Could I just walk away? It was a haunting thought. Hikaru had been fighting for five years. In that time, he had accomplished very little. I could spend just as long, or longer, standing against the Institute. Even if I won, what would I do then? What the Institute was doing was ugly and nasty. The trauma it had inflicted would not heal quickly.

...

It didn't matter. Those were thoughts for another day and another time. There was no point in worrying about saving others when I was still unable to save myself.

But the question continued to weigh on me when I stepped into the tube. What should I do? What was right? I tried to distract myself from that emotional baggage. I fiddled with my glasses, tapping the rims and moving through the various modes they offered.

The basics were the same, a menu up top with quick access to features like zoom. An extended list offered more esoteric selections, like aura mode. The total number of choices were less than half. The color scheme had changed as well. Michiko's glasses had shrouded everything in orange and painted the menus in the same color. These new glasses used violet as the primary tint.

_Thud._ A bolt slid into place. My eyes jerked from the icons floating across my vision. There was a low hum. The tube came to life and metal plates began to glow. _Pop! _A brilliant blue spark crossed the breadth of the tube's interior. _P-Pop!_ Two more electric pulses discharged. _P-p-p-pop!_ Lighting fired off in bursts. I ducked. The jagged streams scattered above me. It was only luck that I hadn't been hit, but the animal part of my brain insisted that I keep cowering.

_Bang!_

Energy filled the entire tube. Blue lightning skewered me. My muscles contracted. I jumped. _Thunk!_ My head hit the side of the tube with a heavy crack. Skull throbbing, I flopped to the ground.

Smoke, ozone, and the scent of cooked flesh choked me. I coughed, and coughed some more. In the haze that filled the tube, a blue illumination grew. Yeah. Real smart, Ranma. Steal an important component. What could possible go wrong? Oh. Except the whole cooked to death by lightning thing. But better fried than girlified, right?

The looming threat of electrocution ended when the life drained from the tube. The pale glow of the metal plates faded slowly, and sparks continued to jet between the gaps of seconds. Grunting, I pulled myself to my feet and leaned against the tube's interior.

I put on an arrogant smirk. Show time.

_Thud._ The door unlocked. Air hissed, and smoke spilled out into the laboratory. It dissipated quickly, revealing Michiko. She jerked open the transparent door and fixed me with her steel blue eyes.

If I had been a lesser man, or perhaps a smarter one, I would have surrendered the card right then. Instead, I gave a Michiko a wry grin, and wobbled the component between my fingers. When I had her attention, I gripped the card in both hands and snapped it in half.

_Agony _followed.

_Cats. Cats everywhere. Chewing, biting, mistaking flesh for the meat strung around my limbs. I tried to beat them back, but Pop had tied me too tight. I thrashed and rolled. Cats were knocked aside, but they kept coming. Hunger drove them. They darted in, screeching and scratching as they sought to find their fill._

_I begged. I begged Pop, who I knew sat on the other side of the basement hatch. _"_Please," I cried. "Please, Pop, please. Let me out. I'll do anything. Just let me out."_

_He never answered._

_Agony_ persisted, and as the cats devoured me, I found no release. The neko-ken did not come. The nightmare was unending.

I trembled on the ground, my body curled up in a ball. I don't know how long I held that position. The line between _agony_ and reality had become blurred. Even as the white light of the laboratory burnt its way into my eyes, I felt as though I were still stuck in a dark pit, my skin slowly being stripped to the bone.

Michiko bent down next to me and pried the broken fragments of the card from my feeble fingers.

"I am required to punish direct defiance," Michiko reminded. She placed the broken card in her pocket, and removed a silver hex-angular device with the same hand. She held it cupped in her palm, tiny needles facing out. "Hold still."

Even while caught by the echoes of _agony__,_I did not back down. With a numb, spasming arm I knocked Michiko's hand aside. The device skittered across the laboratory floor, bouncing and rolling over dozens cords before finally getting stuck facing up at the forty-five degree angle. I coiled my body and jumped.

It was an inelegant attack. I hit Michiko in the stomach with my left shoulder. The two of us tumbled to the ground in a heap. I stumbled and struggled to rise to my feet.

_Vomit poured from my mouth, the acrid liquid burning my throat and leaving behind a sour flavor. An icy chill swept through me even as sweat soaked into my clothes. My limbs shook. So wild were their movements that it was all I could do to stand. My balance was distorted. The Earth itself seemed rise and fall in continuous, erratic waves. Poisoned meat. I was burning with it. It was hard to breath, and every part of me hurt. Still I walked. I couldn't stop, not with the burden I was dragging behind me. A doctor. I had to find a doctor. Because if I didn't, Pop, invincible Pop, would die._

I was on my back, staring at the ceiling. Rectangular tiles divided it into blocks. Detached, I started counting them. One... Five... Eight... Get up Ranma. You've got a fight to win. I tried to focus, but my mind skittered after every thought. I rolled over and rose to my knees. Even getting that high was hard with the room whirling around me so fast that I couldn't tell up from down.

Hands seized my legs. They pulled. I fell. Belatedly I added strength to my limbs, but by then Michiko's knees were digging into my shoulders. She was light. I should have thrown her off, but my consciousness faded into the ancient past. Pop. He had gotten better all on his own. For all the fear I'd felt then, I had cursed him a month later when he started my poison resistance training.

Cold metal pressed against the back of my neck. Sudden numbness restored a fraction of my lucidity. I tried to stand, but my limbs refused to obey my orders. My arms wouldn't move. My hands wouldn't move. Not even my fingers would move.

I turned my neck, my head the only limb that still functioned, and caught sight of Michiko. She straightened her lab coat then grabbed a flaccid leg. With heavy tugs, she dragged me back into the tube. Once, I was inside, she rolled my body over and propped me upright. Still dazed and utterly helpless, I watched as Michiko removed the broken computer card from her pocket. In an effortless display, she joined the two pieces, silver sparks repairing the damage I dealt.

Michiko gazed down, eyes as cold as ever. "It is natural to resist. Doing so does not make me angry. I do not hold your actions against you. I request the same, _kohai_."

Michiko reached near my feet, lifted a pair of glasses that I hadn't noticed had fallen, and affixed them to my face. Then she shut the tube's door.

Minutes crawled by, but, even with growing awareness, there was nothing I could do. Eventually the metal plates glowed again. This time they shed no sparks. Pain followed – haigeki, mixed with the oozing presence of shuken.

-oOo-

_What is 'N'? N^2 + 4N - 12 = 0. _The question was printed in white block font on a dark screen. In the upper right-hand corner the remaining time counted down. Five minutes and thirty-two... thirty-one... thirty seconds.

I frowned and sketched an answer with a mechanical pencil. Then, key by key, I pecked out the answer: '_-6,2'_. I stopped to double check. Yep. The numbers were right. The smaller one was first and there were no spaces. The stupid machine didn't like deviations.

With a touch of trepidation, I hit the enter key. The screen flashed and displayed the word 'correct'. I relaxed. Sometimes I wondered if _bliss_ rewarded me for being right. I wasn't sure. If it did, it was so subtle that it was unrecognizable. The _agony_ of an incorrect answer, on the other hand, was much more apparent.

_Agony,_ I had come to truly hate that feeling. So much so that I had learned to avoid it. If that meant putting in a bit of effort to answer the computer's questions, then so be it.

Besides, it wasn't like a bit of studying was a bad thing.

I leaned back in my chair and stretched. Menial study activities had filled the last few days, the only real nastiness being Kamiko's lines. I hated those lines. The shameful experience had been burned into my memory. I had tried to hold out, to not say the words, but _agony_ had proved the victor. With secret shame I had read all five sheets, my voice a bare whisper.

Then, in the morning I had done it again.

And again.

And again.

It never became easier.

Beyond that, there had been the decided lack of brainwashing. A week spent in the Institute had done little to turn me into an obedient robot. I knew the cause. Kamiko-'sensei' was too busy to be playing nurse-maid to take care of poor little me. On top of that, the Institute refused to place me in a normal class due to unnamed 'concerns'. Heh. How untrusting. Surely they didn't think I was a flight risk?

So, what did a powerful, wealthy, magical girl school do with bad girls like me? They made them study. The Pretty Princess Institute, I had concluded, was a villainous scheme concocted by the Ministry of Culture. _Read this chapter by one o'clock. Complete the computer generated test, and finish the review by three o'clock. _Nag. Nag. Nag. I had done more schoolwork yesterday than in a typical week at Furinkan. The Institute even had a magical girl ronin tutoring me, four-to-five every day. If it wasn't for the occasional bouts of torture, Michiko's science experiments, and the constant _samas_ and _himes__,_I would have suspected the whole Institute was being orchestrated by Hinako-sensei.

_Beep!_ With a synthesized squeal, the computer warned me I was on my last three minutes. If I didn't want to face the _agony_ of being too slow, I'd have to answer the last question.

_You are attending a formal ball while representing the Pretty Princess Institute. What are the proper armaments? A) Weapons are inappropriate. B) Weapons should be clearly displayed to show the Institute's military strength. C) Any weapon is acceptable, as long as it compliments the selected dress. D) Weapons should be present, but hidden._

"Who comes up with these?" I muttered to myself with a low chuckle.

It wasn't the first odd question I had encountered, but it was definitely the strangest.

I hit 'b' for the sheer thrill of it. A flicker of a_gony_ punished my choice. To my shock, when the computer fed me the correct answer, it wasn't 'a' but 'd'. Girls at the Pretty Princess Institute were supposed to be packing heat while at formal balls.

... that was... kind of cool ...

Ha! Drop the gender requirements, the pesky brainwashed slave issue, and the whole diabolic organization of evil thing, and I would have been tempted to send the Institute my transfer papers for that question alone.

_Beep! Beep!_ The computer squealed twice then flipped into review mode. I had an hour and two minutes to get all the question I got wrong, right. After that, the computer would direct me to read a chapter related to the subject I fared worst at.

But I didn't start my review. Instead, I stood and walked across the room to my bed.

The bed was destroyed. The wooden frame had been shattered into short sticks and piled in the center of the of the room. Hardback books joined the mass, their crumbled pages torn out and gathered at the bottom of the heap to serve as tinder. My fire pit was complete.

I had started working on it this morning. It had not been easy. My schedule was jammed full of studying tasks, all of which were enforced by persistent _agony_ should they be avoided. I had scrounged for minutes in order to pull it off, all the while knowing that there was a time limit. My tutor showed up at four and she would put a sudden stop to my plan.

I had seventeen minutes. If I took any longer the damn machine would start punishing me for being behind. It was more than I needed. I had been seconds from setting my plan into motion thirty minutes ago, but the computer's squeals and _agony _had proved too much.

I sat and gathered my tools. First, a rod hacked from the bed's frame. The rod was split down the center so that it had a rounded side and a flat one. Next to the rod was a board. It lacked a groove, a fact I would have to overcome with superior technique.

Gripping the rod in my right hand, I settled in position. I pinned the board with both legs so that it's length stretched away from me. I set the tip of the rod against the wood and pushed. The first stroke was long and heavy. It crossed the length of board then drew back. Back and forth. Back and forth. My motions quickened and the distance shortened. Speed, force, and friction all three conspired to create heat. Glowing carbon dust gathered at the rod's tip.

I stopped and inspected the ember. The light did not die. Certain that it would last, I lifted my fire board and, with a delicate motion, moved the ember into a paper cup. I breathed. Oxygen flowed over the tiny speckle of carbon, teasing from it white smoke. I breathed again, harder. The paper burst into flame.

With graceful swiftness, I touched my torch to the tender of my fire pit then tossed the burning remains into the fire.

Orange tendrils lunged upward from their paper bedding. The flames bit deep into the treated wood, growing taller and stronger as they fed. I watched with glee, and, when the fire was strong enough, I tossed a pile of frilly dresses on top.

_Whomp!_

"Dresses burn so pretty," I joked in a cutesy voice.

I enjoyed the sight for a moment longer then slapped my game face on. I glanced across the room and at the bathroom mirror. A terrified girl looked back.

Perfect.

I strode over to the call button and mashed it half a dozen times. I threw open the door a second later, took a moment to school my voice, then cried out, "Help! Fire!"

An instant later Carrotcake zoomed around the corner, already transformed into her orange and brown seifuku costume. She skidded to a stop a few paces away, her eyes growing wide.

"Eh?" she questioned. Her gaze shifted to the smoke billowing out from the door behind me. Panic settled in. "Eh? Eh-eh-eh-eeeaaa!" she shrieked.

Arms flailing, Carrotcake started a crazed dance. She dashed to and fro as though it were her that was on fire. While Carrotcake descended into hysteria, I shifted my profile and narrowed the door. I wouldn't want her to get ideas.

I snorted. Yeah. Like Carrotcake was going to notice anything.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Carrotcake asked, begging from me an answer. She screamed again, "Eeaaa! Fire! Help! Fire!"

_Keh. Keh._ I didn't have to fake the coughs. Burning the dresses had been a lot of fun. Breathing the fumes... not so much. "Please!" I cried. I tried my best, and failed, to match the sheer terror in the other girl's voice. "Please, you have to give me permission to step out."

Carrotcake gave me a wild eyed stare. "Of course you can leave! Quick. Quick. Get out before you burn! Eeaaa!"

I smirked and flung myself from the room, slamming the door behind me. I fell back into the role of a frightened girl a second later and rushed into Carrotcake's arms. I pulled her into a tight hug and worked some tears from my eyes. I was about to start bawling but Carrotcake beat me to the punch.

"So scary," Carrotcake sobbed. "What are we going to do?"

I patted her on the back, my hand slowly climbing higher. I paused when I reached her neck. _Fear_. My body trembled. My teeth clenched. I tried to calm myself by dragging a long breath.

It helped. A little.

With my fingers poised above Carrotcake's fourth and fifth vertebrae, I channeled ki. _Agony_. My concentration splintered. Ki wavered from the loss of focus and shattered altogether when massive, disruptive resonance rippled through my aura. But, for the barest moment, I formed a needle of raw spiritual force and stabbed.

My vision went blank. My knees hit the ground and a heavy weight slammed into me. I staggered, but remained upright. Burning pain dragged me back to awareness. A painful oval was pressed against my neck, the gem of the choker jettisoned its heat into my skin.

Blinking, I realized that my arms were holding a soft feminine package – Carrotcake, struck unconscious from the pressure point I had triggered.

Relief filtered through me. It worked.

I adjusted my grip and threw Carrotcake over a shoulder. My smirk returned. Permission to step outside? Granted. Escort? Secured. I was good to go.

Starting a quick jog down the hall, I took a moment to gloat. Faking Carrotcake's voice badly, I said, "Where do you want to go, Saotome-sama?" I switched to my cutesy voice. "Why, I'd love to take a long walk outside." "Of course, Saotome-sama, your wish is my command."

Maniacal laughter was impressively hard to resist, but I did my best.

_Brrring!_

The thunderous roar the fire alarms suffocated all other sound. My escape was no longer hidden. But chaos and confusion would reign for some time yet and would serve as my shield while they lasted. With no more time to waste, I turned my jog in a headlong dash.

I swerved at the intersection of halls, sparing the observation desk a glance. Empty. As I thought. Only one girl manned the fort, and it was the same girl that was on call. Elation died two steps later. A girl in green entered the corridor to my left. I cringed, prayed, and jumped. My body flew in a low arc, passing over the lip of the observation desk before crashing to the ground behind it.

My eyes shot back. Emiko flashed by, her clothes transforming into steel plated armor.

She didn't see me? No way. The thought was absurd. I had jumped straight across Emiko's vision, and the speed I had been moving would have attracted attention. Yet, impossibly, she had kept running.

Which meant that Emiko had ignored me.

Why?

A question with too many answers. Emiko's orders could have left no room for my presence. She might not have recognized who I was... or maybe, just maybe, Emiko was letting me escape.

There was no way to know. But I squirreled away the incident for future reference.

I rolled to the side and tucked my body under the desk's lip. I dragged Carrotcake closer as I did so, effectively hiding the two of us from view. Once neither of us could be seen, I pulled out my glasses. I should have been wearing them from the start, but their existence had slipped my mind.

I cycled through the selection list and flicked on aura mode. The lenses lit up and painted my presence in violet and green. Violet stood for 'magical girl'. I had tried to change that, but after half an hour I had given up.

Looking at myself I scowled. My body was covered with the oily stains of tenki's corruption. The contamination had been creeping forward all week, aided and abetted by Michiko's modifications. How long now before it swallowed me whole? The progress of purple might have been a meaningless metric, but to me it held a fearsome image. I was becoming a magical girl. Soon I would be one forever.

I didn't like the idea, especially since I would have to use tenki one more time when I came back for Akane.

I tore my gaze away from myself and I swept it across the hall. My caution was rewarded. A violet specter was approaching at a brisk pace. Spurred on by paranoia I checked Carrotcake vitals. She was out and that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

_Brrr-_ "Rin!" _- ring!_ Kamiko's shout could barely be heard over the fire alarm.

The violet shape approached the desk. The wood above me bent slightly when Kamiko placed her weight on top. There was a vague murmur, the sound drowned out by the ringing of the alarm, then the violet specter stepped away.

"Rin!" Kamiko shouted again, striding down the smoky hall.

I waited until Kamiko was ten meters away before vaulting over the desk, Carrotcake in tow. Swiftly and stealthily, I slipped by while Kamiko's back was turned. Once I was around the corner I resumed my dash to the cathedral.

As I ran I glanced from side to side. Most of the rooms stood empty. But, in a few, the ghosts of captured girls haunted me. Their silhouettes showed a spattering of color, greens and blues all drenched in violet. I forced myself to ignore them, each time wondering: _is that Akane?_ Don't stop, Ranma. You don't have time to look. Escape first. When I was free, when the tiara was torn from my head, then and only then would I be able to save her.

I burst into the cathedral without further trouble. Once inside, I took a sharp turn toward the heavy oak doors and skidded to a stop.

_Th-thud._ All sound was drowned out, the ringing of the fire alarm reduced to a distant buzz. For two seconds I could only hear the beating of my heart.

My path was blocked.

Deep below the seal emblazoned on the granite floor lay a giant wolf. Though buried in the earth, its glowing specter shined through, cast in deep red by my glasses.

Gondul's steed.

_Th-thud_.

It was asleep.

My heart slowed and my breathing resumed. Whew. Got scared over nothing there. How stupid of me. Relaxed, I stepped forward.

"I can see you, human, and I know that you see me," a deep voice said. The words rumbled through the hall, echoing off the walls until they gained an omnipresence.

The wolf stood. It set its padded paws upon the earth and pushed. Step by step it rose. The beast ascending through stone, dirt, and clay as though they were naught but air. The wolf's phantom head breached the granite floor. Then, with one last lunge, it jumped free.

I flicked aura mode off just in time to witness the wolf solidify. Misty flesh made of silver light gained definition. Transparent skin thickened into a coat of gray fur. Legs and limbs gained mass and muscle. Vapor turned to matter as the beast stepped from the realm of death into life.

It was huge. The wolf towered over me, its body rising halfway to the cathedral's ceiling. It straddled both sides of the aisle, leaving no room for escape. More fearsome than that was the wolf's spiritual presence. Sakki. It coated everything – a deadly, choking air that threatened to press me to the ground.

But I did not waver.

"Uh, Carrotcake and I were just... uh... going for a walk. So maybe we could grab a doggy treat while we are out?" I offered.

A low rumble, like distant thunder, sounded from the wolf. It prowled forward, snout dipping so that the beast's nose was only slightly higher than my head. It breathed in, the currents of air dragging at my clothing.

"I smell the smoke on your clothes. I hear the alarm. I know who you are, Ranma Saotome. You fought the Chooser and lost. Now the moon queen claims you as hers."

My eyes darkened. "She can claim all she wants, but I don't kneel. So what's it going to be? You wanna fight? Or are you going to get out of my way, mutt?"

"Mutt," the wolf growled. "Do not mistake me for a dog, mortal. I am Garmr, son of Fenrir, litter-mate to Skoll and Hati. My brothers swallowed the sun and the moon, and my howl heralds Ragnarok. I serve the Chooser only so that my fur may be painted crimson and that my jaws never lack for mortal flesh. I. Am. No. Dog."

The great wolf, Garmr, tilted its head to me. "You claim no master, girl, but all I see is a defiant slave. Fight me if you dare." Garmr's lips pealed back revealing rows of yellowed teeth as long as daggers. "Yes. Fight me. Show to me the strength that stopped to the Chooser. Drench me in your thirst for blood. Crush my bones and tear my flesh. If your strength is true and your hatred boundless, I will gladly abandon that fool, Gondul, who chains herself with honor."

"Down! and stay there," a woman barked.

Before I could process the words, _agony _slammed me to the floor. Blackness crawled through my vision and my senses reeled.

"You will strike no deals, Garmr!" Kamiko shouted. The woman stormed into the room. "Saotome-chan belongs to the Institute. Is that clear? Or do I need to call the Director?"

"You threaten me with the moon queen?" A deep chuckle echoed off the walls. "I tremble in terror. That false goddess is nothing to me," Garmr gloated. He swooped his snout in close, his jaws hanging wide so that they could devour a tiny human in a single bite.

"You speak those words, demon. Yet you do nothing," Kamiko challenged.

_Hmph! _ A gush of air escaped Garmr's nostrils. The great beast turned and trotted back to the emblazoned seal. The wolf's form dispersed into silver mist before sinking into the ground. Before the beast vanished into the earth, Garmr turned his head and delivered parting words. "Take her if you wish. What I seek is a warrior cloaked in death, not a pretty bauble to be paraded before men of account."

With that, Garmr became one with the stone.

Kamiko crossed the hall at an angry pace. I glared up at her from my place on the ground, not daring to defy a second dose of _agony_.

"Gondul I understand, but why the Director puts up with that beast is beyond me," Kamiko grumbled. Kamiko stopped next to my prone body and met my gaze. Her annoyed expression quickly turned to one of exasperation. "Spare me that look, Saotome-chan. I'm not in the mood. Up, and follow me. The Director will have to sort out today's punishment."

Kamiko turned away and marched toward the back of the cathedral.

I stood and shot Kamiko another glare. Damn. So close. If not for that stupid dog, I would have been long gone. Feeling petty, I dumped Carrotcake's unconscious body between the pews. Mild _agony _ told me I had let Kamiko stray too far, so I scrambled to catch up.

From the cathedral we entered a part of the building I had not been in before. I gazed at the rich halls with curiosity. Antique chairs and desks were placed in tiny alcoves. Paintings were set on the walls, each depicting grand estates and alien landscapes. Crystal chandeliers provided light, glowing with little candle-like flames.

In less than a minute Kamiko was pushing through a pair of broad double doors and into a small antechamber. A pretty young woman stood as we entered and curtsied us both.

"Ogura-sensei. Saotome-hime."

Kamiko strode up the secretary's desk and leaned against the dark wood. "Jun, please inform the Director that Saotome-chan burned her room to the ground in an attempt to escape."

The young woman, Jun, gave me a shocked look, which I answered with a smirk.

"Now would be a good time."

Jun's attention jerked back. "Of course, Ogura-sensei. Right away," She said quickly. The secretary made two more curtsies before slipping into the room beyond.

Kamiko ignored me and pattered of her fingers on the wood. With nothing better to do, I took a seat. The chair was stiff and uncomfortable. I glanced through the magazines laid out on the low table. Boring, boring, and even more boring. I peered at the inattentive Kamiko. A perfect chance to test a theory. Casually, I plucked a small pen out of its cup. I held it between two fingers and...

...put it back.

I frowned and tried again. Reach. Grab. Contemplate nailing the back of Kamiko's head. Return the pen to its cup.

Momentary confusion twisted into a cocky smile. So that was it. Kamiko's defense was an aura of non-violence. But, how could I use that to my advantage?

Whatever plans I may have conjured up were put aside when the secretary slipped back into the room.

"Ogura-sensei. Saotome-hime," she greeted again. "The Director says that Saotome-hime is to wait inside."

I stood and strolled to the door to let myself in.

"Not so fast, young lady," Kamiko snapped. "Some ground rules first. You are to speak only when spoken to, and are to stand to the side in a dignified manner. Is that clear, Saotome-chan?"

"Yeah, yeah," I replied. I winced when a knife of _agony_ skewered me.

"Ahem." Kamiko's stern gaze made it clear that this time she would not waver.

I grit my teeth. "I understand, Kamiko-sensei," I repeated with faux politeness

"Better, Saotome-chan. We'll cure you yet. Now go. The Director is waiting."

-oOo-

The Director's office was huge. An enormous mahogany desk dominated the center of the room like a physical manifestation of authority. Behind it was a single towering stained glass window depicting the now familiar crescent moon entwined by silver vines. Light poured through it, shrouding Artemis with a halo of power. Flanking the window were a pair of tall shelves stuffed with hundreds of musty old books and ancient knick knacks. The rest of the room was complemented by a museum of antique arms, armor, and art.

The Director's eyes flickered to me and dismissed my presence. Keeping Kamiko's demands in mind, I stepped to the side and stood quietly. While doing so I fixed my gaze on the elderly gentleman sitting across from Artemis. He was old, his face wrinkled by folds of fat. He dressed in a dark suit and had shadowy eyes that flickered with a strength unrelated to the battlefields I walked.

"Unacceptable," the older man spoke. "Not the kidnappings or the assault on Furinkan. Those won't make the evening news. Open warfare in the commercial district is unacceptable. This goes beyond what the Prime Minister can tolerate."

"Representative Yoshida," Artemis said. "We have been over this many times. By law, the Institute is responsible for the care and management of magical girls. It is our sworn duty to arrest such disruptive elements wherever they may be found. The battle in the commercial district, while regrettable, did not exceed our mandate."

"I am well aware of the Institute's authority, Director Silvervine, but this is political matter. The pressure this incident has caused is enormous. The media is playing blurred pictures of the rooftop battle and that is to say nothing of the rumors that existed before. The Japanese people are starting to ask hard questions."

"Then answer them," Artemis replied scornfully. "A woman out of control and the brave young girls that risked their lives to stop her. Such a story will suffice. The masses are easily swayed."

"The Minister demands something more substantial than a tale about black hearted terrorist," Yoshida retorted.

They were talking about the fight between Gondul and Chiyo, I realized. I contemplated interjecting that the 'woman out of control' had been me, and that it was the Pretty Princess Institute that had flattened an entire building. But, because of Kamiko's orders, that wasn't going to happen. All I'd get out would be _'Aaagh!'_ before the tiara constricted my throat and rendered my screams silent.

Oh well. They probably wouldn't have appreciated my wit anyway.

"You want a parade," Artemis said with disgust. "Your Minister is a fool. Acknowledging a mistake will only grant it more power. Better to deny everything."

"Director Silvervine, be that as it may, the Minister has made his decision," Yoshida replied.

"My head will _not_ be on the chopping block for this, Yoshida. Be sure to inform him of that."

"Your concern is misplaced, Director," Yoshida replied. "A simple show will suffice. Something to let the people know that we understand their concerns and are acting on them."

"A slap on the wrist then," Artemis clarified. She paused in thought. "I will play your Minister's game for now. But, in turn, I demand that my budget be untouched and my authority left intact."

"Officially the Institute's rights will be curtailed and its funding reduced. Unofficially, the controls on the Institute will remain blind and toothless. As for your budget, I have slipped in a rider that increases reimbursements for your distributed personnel. It will more than make up for any shortfall," Yoshida said.

"A gambit that will ensure that more of my girls are working for other branches of the government."

"Of course," Yoshida admitted. "A useful selling point. But it also sets in stone future funding increases."

"My core staff has already been stripped bare, Yoshida. Allocating more girls will only make things more difficult. But it seems I have no choice in the matter," Artemis said. "I assume that none of this is free. What do you want in exchange?"

"Make the Suihen corporation your main supplier," Yoshida answered.

"Their prices are exorbitant," Artemis shot back. "However, I am willing to pay them if my _increased_ funding more than covers the difference. Is that all, Representative?"

"For now." Yoshida stood. "Try to be more discrete in the future, Director Silvervine. The Minister and I can work around the occasional hiccup, but your enemies are numerous and eager to see you fail. Don't give them excuses."

"I have already talked with the parties involved. It won't happen again." Artemis's words were grim. "What effect has this had on the Nerima bill?"

Yoshida grimaced, "Dead and buried, I'm afraid. If things clear up, I might be able to revive it next year, but it'll be a while before we have the wind at our back." Yoshida gave a slight bow to the woman across the table. "It has been a pleasure, Director. I will send my secretary tomorrow to iron out the details."

Artemis rose. "Of course, Representative. You are welcome to visit the Institute any time. Will you need an escort out?"

"No, I can manage that on my own."

Yoshida turned to exit, but veered when his eyes landed on me. The old politician stopped in front of me and swept my body with an oily gaze. With an aged hand he reached out and grabbed my chin. I smacked the arm aside.

Yoshida took a moment to nurse his arm but did not step back. I could see a bruise forming on his thin skin. He looked back at the Director, ignoring me entirely.

"A new one for your collection?" Yoshida asked.

"Yes. I have special plans for her. But she has been making a nuisance of herself as of late." Artemis warned. "I apologize for the use excessive force, but do not touch her again."

Yoshida looked at me with renewed interest. "Tomboyish," he commented. "And rebellious. Violently so." A subtle, but sadistic smile touched old man's wrinkled face. "You'll be a fun one to play with after you break."

"Did you not hear me the first time, Representative? That one is mine." Artemis said. "Saotome is not a toy for you to play with. The secretary I provided fills that role. If she is not satisfactory, I can have her replaced."

"Disappointing," Yoshida murmured. He looked away and spoke up. "There is no need, Director. I am content with the way things are."

The Representative gave me one last slimy look then removed himself from the room. I watched him as he left, not even trying to disguise my disgust. Happosai, in his petty crimes and shallow lechery, was an infinitely better man than the politician that had left the room. That the Institute dealt with Yoshida only served to damn it further in my eyes.

"Sit," Artemis commanded.

I sat in the chair Yoshida had abandoned. While I moved, Artemis lifted a decanter of deep amber liquid and poured it into a crystal snifter. The volatile scent of alcohol teased my nose as the Director leisurely returned the decanter to its place. The cuffs of Artemis's dress passed over the desk, somehow leaving the papers below undisturbed.

Artemis settled back into her chair and took a sip. She rolled the brandy in her mouth to savor the taste.

"In the future, refrain from hitting a member of the Diet, no matter how much Representative Yoshida deserved it," Artemis said, lounging back in her seat. "But that is neither here nor there. You tried to burn down my school. Explain."

"I tried to escape," I retorted.

"A problem of yours that will be corrected," Artemis said harshly. "And I fail to see how that justifies the destruction of my property."

I snorted. "You expect me to care about your property? Maybe if you start respecting my rights, I'll consider respecting yours."

Artemis swirled the liquid in her crystal cup, dark amber fading into orange as the liquid thinned against the snifter's walls. "It seems to me that we have set off on the wrong foot. You have seen the worst of the Institute, but not the good."

"What? Imprisoning nut cases? Demon slaying?" I shook my head in disgust. "Sorry, but the world worked fine without you."

"I am not speaking of something as simple as cleaning away an infestation of vermin," Artemis proclaimed.

The Director stood, her queenly attire empowering her with an air of authority. For a moment, her eyes and posture pressed into me, making me feel as though I were a child no older than seven sitting in front of the principle. Then she turned away. Artemis strode across the room, her long garments sliding over the floor as she moved.

Artemis stopped at the wall to my left. There, she reached up above a shield bearing a coat of arms and pulled down a talwar. _Shhing. _Artemis unsheathed the curved blade then rolled its length in the light. The steel shined like a mirror, tainted by splotches of red that ran from tip to hilt.

"Exiled from Atlantis, my ancestor came to the moon and, with this sword, slew the demon god Ginmusaboru. In death, he passed this blade down to his daughter, Serenity the First, to remind all his descendants that every nation is forged in blood and iron. That was the truth those days. It is the truth today. It will be the truth forever."

Artemis resheathed the sword and returned to her chair, setting the weapon on her desk with a heavy thud. "You are, I am sure, aware of the state of this world. Humanity greedily consumes every resources, swine at a trough, breeding and devouring with little regard for the future. Like savages, humans fight amongst themselves for the best place to shove their snout all the while wielding ever greater weapons. Extinction is inevitable."

No shit. Was there anyone in this world that hadn't thought that at least once? Still, I didn't appreciate how Artemis had compared humanity to pigs. I liked even less how she had neatly excluded herself from the same category.

That kind of thinking never went anywhere good.

I rolled my eyes at the theatrics. "Let me guess. You're going to conquer the world in order to save it. You know, you sound like a cliché movie villain."

Against my will, my eyes flickered to the sword. It was in arms reach. One tenth of a second and the hilt could be in my hand. Two more and I could remove Artemis's head from her shoulders.

It was a tempting dream. After a single week, I could already feel the weight of the Institute crushing me. My pride had been smashed time and again. _Agony_ had pierced me so many times that I simmered with anger and hatred.

But the emotion that idea left in its wake was disgust. Kill to escape? Never. I was not so pathetic that I needed to dirty myself in that manner.

"Conquest? How naïve. Did I not make it clear that humans are little better than animals? Did you think a mere firm hand was sufficient?" Artemis asked. "No! Humanity's hunger for power and prestige can never be sated. Those who lack will always strive to tear down those who have. No matter how many times they are put in their place, vermin rise again. Peace requires more than conquest. Humanity must be cleansed. Nothing else will do. And that is why I shall tenki this world."

Huh?

... tenki the world? Surely, she couldn't have said that?

I mean, this was a planet we were talking about. The scales involved were unfathomable. Even if there were a thousand, hell a million, of me working in tandem, I would come up short. Yeah, Artemis was packing a lot more spiritual strength than I had. But a _million times_?no way.

Tenki a planet? Impossible.

... and _completely insane_.

Tenki warped both body and soul. It killed. It had nearly killed me when I had used _my _ki. Like transplanted organs, foreign ki was rejected. If tenki was deadly when self inflicted, it was even more deadly when inflicted on another. Only through special techniques, like Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon, could a coerced tenki be rendered 'safe'.

Artemis's plan was pure and simple murder. She was going to kill everyone. Anyone unlucky enough to survive would be 'purified'.

This was... madness. Impossible madness, fortunately...

...

... or was it?

An evil idea started to crawl its way through my head. Where force failed, finesse sufficed. Tenki was self perpetuating. So, what would happen if you seeded the ley system with pellets of it? Poisoned pills carried to the planet's heart. No. Even with that, the scales were off, the energies too tiny...

... but, what if there were thousands of magical girls helping?

A sick and twisted emotion grew within me.

"Oh yes, child, it can be done," Artemis said, as though reading my thoughts. "Not easily. Not in this primitive era. Thirty thousand girls, and the bulk of the world's economic output, are minimal requirements. Planetary tenki is not a goal to be accomplished in decade. Three at best. A century at worst."

The pieces started to click into place. This was why Artemis needed a magical girl factory. Today's Institute was just the beginning. To find thirty-thousand girls, Artemis would have to scour the land. Was there even enough? The Institute had depleted Japan's magical girl population with a mere two hundred. Throw in the martial artists, the priestesses, and every other magical wannabe, and the pot would still be far from full. There wouldn't be enough...

...not in Japan.

She would have to reach out to other nations. That would mean war. War required soldiers. The JSDF lacked the manpower and the resources. Girls would be put on the front lines, and they would die by the thousands. They would have to be replaced. That meant more war. That meant more death.

World war. World war followed by tenki. Apocalypse atop of apocalypse. Save the world? How was this any better than letting humanity destroy itself?

"You are insane." I whispered my conclusion, not daring to believe it myself.

"Say what you will, girl, but think upon on it. Imagine a new kingdom. An eternal kingdom. A kingdom that knows neither want nor war. A kingdom crowned with perfect glory. Yes, billions will die, but their destiny is already set. My path may pass through the darkness but it leads to hope. Leave things as they are and all that will be left is despair."

"So?" I said scornfully. "Maybe we die. Maybe we don't. You're just turning an unsure thing into a sure thing. If our fate is destruction, then so be it, let us be destroyed."

_Crack! _The crystal glass shattered in Artemis's hand. The Director's posture had gone ridged and her eyes distant. She looked through me as though seeing a ghost.

"What did you say?" Artemis's question was unusually quiet.

I looked the woman dead in the eye.

"I said, you are insane." My voice was clear and crisp. "Only a madwoman would think she can save someone by killing them. Hope? All I hear is evil. Yeah, maybe we're doomed. Hell, we probably are doomed. But, if we can't stop ourselves from killing ourselves, then we deserve to die. Not that I'm planning to-"

_Thud! _The air vacated my lungs._ Crash!_ My body slammed into a wall. My vision went black and I flopped to my knees. I blinked to regain sight and coughed. Wet liquid was spat out marring an elegant rug with crimson drops.

What the hell had hit me? It had felt like a battering ram but had come and gone in the blink of an eye. A single attack had brought me to my knees and left six ribs broken.

Artemis swept around her desk. The atmosphere around her shimmered. Waves of force spread out pinning me to the ground with the strength of a giant. At the center of it all was Artemis. Her queenly visage replaced by rage.

"Those words," she hissed. "You _dare_ to lecture _me_ with my niece's words?"

Vines tore through the ground shattering stone and wood. Thick tentacles crawled up the walls and twined around the furniture. Others gripped my legs. They squeezed. _Crack! _Wood splintered. Steel armor snapped. My muscles turned to putty and I fell to the ground. Pain. Numbness. More vines wrapped around me and I fought to tear them from my throat.

Artemis saw none of it. She was lost in her madness, screaming at the shades of a past long dead.

"Ungrateful wretch!" Artemis spat. "You weren't there! You weren't forced to stand by while your kingdom crumbled, destroyed by a queen too weak to do what needed to be done. I warned her. I warned her again and again. But did she listen? No! She let her kingdom die."

Artemis whirled and her eyes fixated on me. The vines suddenly dragged me up and slammed me again into the wall. They pinned me there with crushing force while Artemis's gaze burned into me like lava born from hell.

"That's right, child. She let it die. She knew, Hecate showed her, and still she let it die. And they called me a monster. I, who bled for the realm. I, who won wars for the realm. I, who cast aside my future for the realm! I am the monster?" Artemis screamed. "The monster was her! She betrayed her people. She killed them all for _righteousness_. Luna died because of her. And for what? So that a pitiful few Terran savages could live? Death was all she brought. Death and ruin."

Artemis went silent and the vines eased. I took a moment to breath while Artemis's fury turned to ice. The Director approached, her face made of granite. With a strong, elegant hand she seized my choker and yanked me closer. Artemis gazed into my eyes, and I saw in hers nothing but cruelty.

"I have granted you my kindness. I have granted you my honor. I plucked you from the garbage heap called _humanity_ and named you senshi, knight of the Queen, a higher position than any filthy Terran deserves. Still, you spit in my face. Very well. I will show you horror."

"This -_hack-_ is your kindness?" I coughed out. "I'm better off without it."

Artemis threw me to the floor. She swept across the room indolently, her eyes glacial fissures.

"Yes, girl, this is kindness. I have allowed you your essence of self. No longer. You shall be given to Shizue Handa. She will tear from you your dreams and leave behind a hollowed out doll." Artemis smiled in a way that sucked all the warmth from the room. "In the end, you will beg for my kindness. And, because I am merciful, I will grant it.

"Now leave."

With shaking arms, I pushed myself up and into a sitting position. I glared at the woman. "Aren't you forgetting something?" I spat.

Artemis was pitiless. "You have arms, don't you? Crawl."

And so, spurred on by _agony_, I crawled. My pride burned and anger curdled into hate. As I moved arm over arm, I promised myself one thing and one thing only. One day, I was going to _kill_ Artemis Serenity Silvervine_._

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia**

_**Operant Conditioning** – _The use of punishment and reward to engender a behavioral change. Operant conditioning is not a 'personality altering' technique. Instead it closer to a 'habit changing' technique. Whether new habits 'stick' after the punishment and reward mechanisms are removed is dependent on a number of complicated factors.

_**Ministry of Culture **__[__Monbushō] –_ The Ministry of Culture is the ministry in charge of education during the time period of Haigeki. It was replaced by _Monbu-kagakushō _or MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology) in 2001.

**_Sakki_** – Blood thirst, or killing intent. Sakki is a common manga/anime trope where spiritual presence conveys the willingness to kill, destroy, or cause brutal harm. Within the scope of Haigeki, sakki is the ki (life energy) let loose by someone that has made a clear decision to kill. Individuals that exude sakki unintentionally are people that have not only killed a large number of people, but tend to solve problems through killing.

**_Talwar_** – A kind of curved sword like a shamshir or scimitar. A talwar has a more gentle curve than the shamshir and is thus capable of thrusting attacks as well as slashing.

**_Ginmusaboru_** – A loose translation is _silver devourer_. A demon god that controlled parts of the Moon before Serenity's line established the Moon Kingdom.

_Quick Honorifics_

I intentionally use the subtle meanings of honorifics in this chapter to denote relationship levels. As such, here is a refresher for those who know and an introduction for those that do not.

**_Sama_ –** An honorific denoting unusual respect or station of the individual.

_**Sensei**_ – An honorific generally translated as 'teacher', but is used for a wide variety of highly educated individuals. Doctors are 'sensei', as well as professors and scientists.

_**Hime**_ – Generally translated as 'princess', though it is more accurate to say 'high class/high born lady'. Hime has the associated connotation that the girl referenced is beautiful and/or possessing lady-like traits.

_**Senpai**_ – Often translated as 'upper class man', but the real meaning is closer to 'more experienced colleague'. It implies that the recipient is both a colleague and deserving of greater respect due to seniority.

_**Kohai**_ – Inverse of Senpai, implies 'less experienced colleague'. Despite its meaning, the title is usually not considered demeaning/insulting.

_**Chan**_ – A somewhat affectionate honorific generally associated with children and girls, and thus diminutive and insulting if used in the wrong context.

**Characters**

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

_**Rin Suzuki** (Carrotcake) [PPI, Luck]_ – A magical girl with carrot styled magical attacks. She has a cutesy clumsy defense and isn't capable of much other than long range artillery support.

_**Emiko Watanabe** (Fencer) [PPI, Elegance]_ – A magical knight that wields a crystal epee. She fought and defeated Ukyo and Akane in the first chapter. Ranma found her to be the most skilled fighter of the three.

_**Artemis Serenity Silvervine **[PPI, Distance] –_ Director of the PPI, and living aunt of the late Queen Serenity. Artemis, by royal law, should have been named queen at the fall of the Silver Millennium, but she was imprisoned for the crime of treason and unable to exert her authority. Instead, Serenity VI named Setsuna as regent until the reborn princess was ready to take the throne.

Though Artemis cannot leave her prison, anyone who knows the proper path may enter or leave at will. With the help of Gondul, her most loyal servant, Artemis has been able to indirectly interact with the world to the point of developing full relations with the Japanese government.

Artemis's defense is 'distance'. She is always too far away to be hit by an attack, unless the attack has infinite range. However, Artemis possess sufficient skill to form just about any variation of a magical girl defense she desires, be it elegance, luck, or barrier. Her natural power is the ability to cause plants to grow, seemingly out of nowhere, but due to Artemis's arcane training there are few forms of magics that she cannot reproduce.

Artemis is a skilled warrior and a war hero from multiple campaigns, mostly against Earth, during the Silver Millennium. She is an expert in multiple forms of hand to hand and ranged combat, and is a known master swordsman. After having experience multiple assassination attempts during the Silver Millennium (a couple that came close to succeeding), she has learned to carry a variety of magical and technological weapons on her person at all times.

**Planetary Tenki**

Planetary tenki is the action of completing a tenki in such a manner that a celestial body is considered to be 'part' of the individual completing the tenki and thus transformed in conjunction. Because of the scale of celestial objects it is impossible, even for the strongest magical girls, to complete a planetary tenki without assistance. Thus, in order to achieve planetary tenki, a major magic ritual must be used. In the case of large or spiritually dense planets this may require the aid of substantial technological and economic forces.

Planetary tenki is typically completed by injecting haigeki and shuken into key points of the planet's ley system. Once sufficient transformative pressure is reached the core individual completes their tenki and acts as a nucleation point for the planet's transformation. The result is a massive magical burst where a substantial proportion of the planet's energy is formed into a enormous haigeki/shuken transformative force. As a result, all living creatures within the scope of the planet's aura (which may extend thousands of kilometers above the planet's surface) are subject to a coerced tenki. When life is already present this causes a mass die off.

The level of power required to transform a planet is dependent both on the planet's spiritual energy and its physical size. Earth, with a billion year history of life, has the densest spiritual energy in the Sol system. Luna – due to its nearness to Earth – is second in spiritual potency. This is one of the reasons that Sailor Moon exhibits powers far in excess of normal planetary senshi.

Note that Sol, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have _not_ undergone tenki. Their sheer size and lack of solid structure made planetary tenki impossible even at the height of the Silver Millennium. As a result, the senshi of these planets actually have dominion over a specific moon.

During the Silver Millenium planetary tenki was pursued for the useful advantages it grants. The first, and most obvious, is that the core transforming individual lays claim to a portion of the planet's spiritual energy. The majority of this power can only be wielded in macro form – generating storms, earthquakes or other natural events – and only that when the planet is already prone to such an action. However, a very tiny subset of the energy becomes directly accessible and can be utilized to produce concentrated 'human scale' magical effects. As a result magical girls that have _current_ planetary claims can _directly _wield powers ten to one hundred times greater than that of Saffron.

Because the spiritual energy pulled from a planet is so massive and uncontrollable, it was common for the key tenki holder to reallocate portions of that power to 'subcontractors'. During the Silver Millennium contract holder families became an ingrained nobility. This system of 'power by birth' was only reinforced by the fact that the constant tenki-like pressure exerted on bloodlines made the aristocracy better suited for the role (... in a mystical sense at least...).

However, the primary reason planetary tenki was utilized in the Silver Millenium was not for the resulting power, but instead to terraform. Tenki aligns a planet with the core life form and thus renders it hospitable to similar life. To the Moon Kingdom planetary tenki proved the easiest and, economically speaking, cheapest way to render a planet habitable.

The terraforming effect of tenki on planets is, unfortunately, somewhat fragile. If the key tenki provider is vacant (e.g. _dead_) for an extended time (decades) the planet reverts to it's prior environment. In addition, not all planets have sufficient spiritual density to maintain permanent tenki states. In the Silver Millenium this issue was solved by having the spiritually dense core world, Luna, provide constant spiritual streams to the lesser colonies. The strain this placed on Luna's resources was high, and that in turn generated intense interest in adding Earth's massive spiritual pool to the Moon Kingdom's resources. This, above all else, was the source of contention between the two empires.


	7. Breakdown

**Author's Forward –** Wow, last chapter garnered a variety of reactions. Can't say I wasn't expecting it, but the extremity came as a bit of shock. Some people loved it. Some people hated it. Others floated somewhere in between.

For those of you in the latter categories, I make no promises. This story is dark, gritty and will not have a fairy tale ending. But this story is not a tragedy either. Maybe that little spark will hold you through the night.

Maybe it won't.

Enough of that. Read. Enjoy!

P.S. At this point it should be possible to deduce most of the remaining major events. Can you?

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 7: Breakdown**

-oOo-

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

I slapped the alarm and it went quiet. A minute later a knife of _agony_ sheered through the embers of sleep. With a growl, I threw off the covers and stood.

Pain.

Screws ground into my shins, splintering bone with rivers of torment. For a second, I feared they would slide out of place, but they held firm. I lurched forward, stumbled, and caught myself on the bathroom sink. I glanced up and stared into bloodshot eyes.

I hadn't slept well.

Michiko's emergency treatment had been no wave of a wand. Synthetic shuken, a phantom cure, was all that held my legs together. Beneath that illusion, my wounds remained. And so they would stay until natural healing finished what magic had started.

But that was the lesser Hell.

Only seconds after I had stepped free of Michiko's tube, I had been set upon by Kamiko. The furious woman had finally found the time to deal with me. Decorum, rules, class work, and etiquette, she had drilled mind numbing details into my head. Every fumble had been met by needles of _agony_ and every success rewarded by _bliss_. The repeated applications had worn my mind thin. The last thing I remembered was collapsing upon my bed.

And that seemed only seconds ago.

I dragged my weary body into the shower and fumbled with the knobs. Water, blessed hot water, poured onto me. The heat penetrated my skin, washing away the Institute, the failed escape, and my femininity. It was a rare moment of peace. I was still me. Victory was possible. All that I required was a mistake.

The dull throb of _agony_ paled before hope.

With a final blast of cold, I exited the shower as female as I had entered. Grabbing a towel, I dried myself, my eyes fixing on a golden spark that floated its way up and through the bathroom sink.

Odd.

I shrugged and stepped out of the bathroom in search of clothes to wear.

Only to stop dead in my tracks.

A petite, blond haired woman was waiting in the living room. She graced me with a bright smile, and dipped into a low curtsy.

"Good morning, Saotome-hime," the blond greeted sweetly. "I'm sorry to intrude, but I wished to catch you before you dressed. I hope you don't mind, but I have picked out a lovely outfit for you to wear."

I slung my towel over a shoulder and glanced at the bed. A girlish blue dress with cute, complementing undergarments were laid out for my access. I scowled, my hand waving away the pair of golden lights that danced across my vision.

Irritated, my eyes flashed back to the blond.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Oh dear. How thoughtless of me." The blond curtsied again, lightly lifting the edges of her short, pleated skirt. "I am Shizue Handa. With the permission of the Director, I am here to fashion you into a lovely doll."

My scowl transformed into a glare. Shizue Handa. XT-07. Michiko's failed attempt at creating a 'magical girl factory'. The girl who, in the words of Artemis herself, would '_hollow me out'_.

In the Institute, there was no one more dangerous.

"Out," I commanded.

Shizue's smile slumped the slightest bit. "Please do not fret, Saotome-hime. To become a doll is the greatest joy a girl can know. You are lucky. The Director so cruelly forbids me from sharing my gift. I feel so sad thinking of those poor, unfortunate girls beyond my reach. All of them trapped by the curse of meaningless dreams."

Shizue's despondent voice returned to cheer. "But not you. You will be a doll. A perfect princess, forever free from all anxiety."

I shook my head to free my vision of the strange golden embers that floated across it. Shizue was obviously trying to do something to me. Arguing was stupid. I had to get this girl out of the room. Now.

With that in mind I stepped forward, gritted my teeth against _agony _and...

... slipped through Shizue's body like mist. I caught myself before I fell and turned to see an illusion waver then dissolve into golden light. My head jerked to the side. I spotted Shizue standing next to my bed.

"Please don't be violent, Saotome-hime," Shizue begged. The blond haired girl held up lacy, blue undergarments in offering. "How about you dress first? A girl is happiest when she's beautiful."

I ripped the clothes from Shizue's hand.

_Th-thud. _

I stopped.

_Th-thud. _Blood pulsed. My vision warped, and walls bent inward. Silk panties with cute bows crowded out everything else. The bright blue leached into the air, dye spreading through water.

_Th-thud. _

The pressure increased, crushing my head with the weight of a mountain. I swayed, dizzy and confused. Golden light swirled around me in a whirlwind. I blinked and struggled to recall my last thought.

Shizue. Get her the hell out.

Seizing that moment of clarity, I lunged forward. My body surged through the air, passing effortlessly through Shizue's illusion. Unhindered momentum carried me onto the bed. I bounced then slammed into the far side wall.

Sharp pain was a welcome gift. For a brief second it washed away the thickening fog. I bit my tongue to hold onto that lucidity while searching the storm of gold for my attacker.

"Are you- ... -hime?" Shizue's distant voice asked.

_Th-thud. Th-thud._ The drumbeat of my heart drowned out Shizue. A curtain of golden lights consumed my world. Embers crowded around me. They touched my skin and sank in. There they wiggled, slimy maggots burrowing through flesh.

"Out," I demanded. I could not tell if it was a shout or a whisper.

Awareness continued to splinter. Moments fragmented into a cascade of frames. Think. Think! I struggled to gather thoughts. Pain wasn't working.

I drew upon ki.

Life surged. Gold broke. _Agony_. Darkness. Suffering.

I shuddered. Fractional clarity returned. I found myself laying on the ground, my faced pressed against industrial carpet. I breathed, sucking in dust and fiber.

Gold flowed up through the ground in the form of a thousand lights. Thickening.

No! Intense will jolted through me. Madness descended. I pulled upon ki once more.

_Agony_. Unconsciousness. Awareness. Gold... then _agony_ again.

I repeated the cycle. Once. Twice. I lost count. Everything bled away until all that I had was mindless obsession.

_Agony_. Unconsciousness. Awareness. Gold.

Warm hands cupped my cheeks. Shizue's glassy eyes were next to my own. Her face was stricken by confusion.

_Agony_. Unconsciousness. Awareness. Gold.

"I don't understand. Why are you fighting?" she asked.

_Agony_. Unconsciousness. Awareness. Gold.

"Stop. Please stop, Saotome-hime. I don't want to hurt you."

_Agony_. Unconsciousness. Awareness. Gold.

"Why won't you stop?"

_Agony_. Unconsciousness. Awareness. Gold.

"I- I'll make it better. Don't worry, Saotome-hime, it will be over soon."

_Agony_. Unconsciousness. Awareness-

_Intrusion_.

The pattern shattered. Betwixt broken moments, Shizue made her move. Her arm penetrated my chest, sinking through skin as though it were mist. Her fingers wiggled, brushing against my insides. What she touched were not organs but something else entirely.

Faint instinct made me draw back. My motion was halted by the bed I was propped against.

"There it is. Just a second longer, Saotome-hime, and everything will be better," Shizue promised.

The intruding hand clenched tight. I went rigid. Primal terror shot through my spine. Fear twisted into rage. Let go! That isn't yours! Anger eclipsed _agony_. Without thinking I seized Shizue's shoulders, my fingers crackling with erratic ki. Then, with all my strength, I pushed.

_Yank!_

A part of me tore free.

...

Huh?

My brow scrunched in confusion. What had I been doing?

_Aimless._

Why had I been fighting?

_Senseless._

Who... who was I?

_Emptiness_.

_Thud._ Shizue slammed into a wall. I hardly heard. It all seemed so... meaningless now. My actions, my thoughts, my dreams, they poured away, an ocean falling off the edge of the world. Void. That was all that was left.

No. That couldn't be right. There was more. There had to be more. Something in my life had meaning.

In vain, I searched my memories: years spent traveling dusty roads, battles fought with titanic foes, babbling teachers imparting wisdom. What purpose had any of that served? Trash. All trash. Time thrown away, and what had I gained in return?

Nothing.

Nothing. That was what I was.

Nothing. That was all I had accomplished.

Nothing. That was my future.

Ranma Saotome had no meaning.

A dawning sun broke the darkness of despair. Shizue. Her smiling face appeared before mine, a golden halo encircling her head.

"Are you better now, Saotome-hime?" Shizue asked.

Better? My face twisted with horror. How could _this_ be better? With trembling limbs I grabbed onto her, a child seeking to reclaim broken dreams.

"Give it back," I whispered. My command was devoid of strength. I lacked all will. For me, there was only nothingness.

Shizue brushed my hair aside and shushed me quietly.

"Don't worry, Saotome-hime. You will feel better when you accept the truth. Now say it with me: I am an empty vessel. There is nothing inside me."

"No. I don't want to be empty. Give it back. Please, give it back."

Shizue shook her head. "There is nothing left to return, Saotome-hime. Repeat after me: I am an empty vessel. There is nothing inside me."

The last mote of passion spent, I slumped weakly. No longer able to resist, I echoed her voice. "I am an empty vessel," I whispered. "There is nothing inside me."

Tension drained away. The fear and terror of the void faded. Left behind was peace. I was empty.

But that was okay.

Shizue smiled, and I began to smile back.

"That's right, Saotome-hime. We are empty. But do not worry. Our hearts can be filled. By giving others happiness, we can know perfect joy. We exist to please."

My head swam. Rational thought teased me with images of battle. Use ki, it insisted. Face _agony_. But... why? Why would I do that? Fighting was pointless. I was nothing but a sack of meat. Better to give in. Better to be washed away.

I relaxed against the bed. With wispy words I repeated Shizue's truth and turned it into my own.

"My heart can be filled by the happiness of others. I exist to please."

"We are dolls," Shizue pronounced.

I opened my mouth...

And my throat froze. Vestigial will fought against magic. Whirling gold crashed down on me again. Animal instinct rose where humanity had fled, continuing the battle I could no longer fight.

But the result was inevitable. Emotion could not defeat an energy beyond its touch.

"I... am a doll."

Oh.

I'm a doll.

It felt good. It felt beautiful. The elation did not compare to the rush of _bliss_. It was soft and comforting, like a warm blanket. I was a doll. An object. An ornament. An existence that served and submitted. There was nothing more to me. I didn't need to feel or dream. All I needed to do was give. Give everything and anything that was asked.

It was a wonderfully simple existence.

"All better now, Saotome-hime?" Shizue asked. The blond haired girl stood and extended a friendly hand.

With a soft smile I reached up and grasped Shizue's offering.

"Yes... yes I do," I answered.

"How lovely," Shizue breathed. "Now, how about we get you dressed. I think you'll look very pretty in the blue dress."

I nodded absently and allowed Shizue to guide me. With quiet chatter, Shizue helped me dress. Slowly, my rough, tomboyish stature was refashioned. In its place was left a delicate flower. An innocent girl with bright blue eyes.

This is me.

This is how I should be.

I smiled at the sight.

"Are you satisfied, Saotome-hime?" Shizue asked from over a shoulder.

"It's perfect Shizue-chan," I answered. I stood and admired myself from all sides.

"You are too kind, Saotome-hime," Shizue replied. She stepped up to the closet. "If it is not too much trouble, I thought we would go through your clothes before breaking for tea?"

"A wonderful idea," I proclaimed, clapping my hands together. "So much of what the Institute left is, well, drab."

Shizue smiled. "Oh, I know. If you don't mind, I would be happy to improve your selection."

I gave a tiny curtsy. "I place myself in your care, Shizue-chan."

"I am honored to serve, Saotome-hime," Shizue said while returning a deeper curtsy.

Time blurred as we worked. Minutes passed into hours. I soaked in Shizue's guidance, learning the secrets of fashion and striving to match her gentle demeanor and delicate grace.

Eventually, we stopped for tea.

It was then that the door slammed open.

Akina rolled into the room like a storm, her violet eyes threatening death. A glare as destructive as a thunderbolt settled on Shizue.

"How dare you! Out!"

Shizue jolted to her feet, her face caught in shocked confusion. "Isshi-hime?" she squeaked. An instant later Shizue caught herself and dipped into a graceful curtsy. "I apologize if I have angered you, Isshi-hime, but I assure you that I am here with the permission of the Director."

I offered a dull smile and carefully sipped my tea while making sure my lipstick didn't smudge.

Akina's eyes narrowed. "This is not a request, Shizue. You will leave this room the civilized way or the uncivilized way. Which would you prefer?"

Shizue gentle expression wavered for the briefest moment. "I am sorry, Isshi-hime, but I cannot comply. Your request conflicts with the Director's orders. Perhaps you can meet with Saotome-hime some other time? I'm sure she would be delighted."

"You refuse then? So be it." Akina's gaze shifted to me. "Saotome, please disregard what you are about to see. It is unbecoming of senshi."

Akina crossed the small room in three steps. She then seized empty air and dragged it forward. Across from me, the image of Shizue dissolved only to reform within Akina's grasp. With a jerk, Akina pulled the girl off balance and dragged her to the door. With a final heft, Akina threw the blond out into the hall.

_Slam!_ The door crashed into its frame, cutting Shizue off.

"Well, that was unusually crude of me," Akina said as she approached the table. "I see the charm of it though. No wonder you are such a brute."

I rose from my seat and gave Akina a pretty smile. I fumbled a curtsy. "Isshi-hime."

Akina's ruby lips quirked. A moment later she returned my curtsy. "Saotome-hime."

With that Akina slipped into an askew chair. "Since you are unaware, senshi do not curtsy to senshi. A product of Michiko's stubbornness, or so Kamiko tells me. 'I refuse to engage in unnecessary and inefficient motions', I'm sure that was Michiko's excuse."

"Of course, Ishii-hime," I said gently. "Tea?" I lifted the pot.

"Please. And call me Akina." Akina snagged a spare cup. "Saotome, do you remember who you are?"

Who I am? I stared in confusion while I poured green tinted liquid into the cup. Suddenly, I understood. Not who I am, but what I am. My smile brightened at the prospect of sharing the truth.

"I'm an empty vessel, waiting to be filled by the happiness of others," I said proudly. "I am a doll."

"No." Akina set her cup down with a clatter. Her violet eyes caught mine, allowing no escape. "You are not a doll."

I jerked back. "But... I..." I stumbled over the words, my thoughts breaking into shattered fragments. Certainty was replaced by terrifying confusion.

"You are Ranma Saotome: martial artist, thug and brute," Akina continued, allowing no respite. "You are a tomboy blossoming into femininity, an unbreakable warrior, an elegant senshi. You are many things, kohai, many wonderful things. But you are not a doll. Never a doll."

I fell to my seat, the jolt of impact running up my spine. My eyes were wide, and my breath came in short panicked gasps. Not a doll? No. I had to be a doll. Because, if I wasn't, then I was nothing. _Nothing_. Terror grew and meaningless void yawned wider. No. _No!_ I wouldn't be nothing. Anything was better than nothing. A doll. I am a doll. She's lying. I'm a doll.

Comfortable warmth filled me again. I am a doll. A pretty object that existed to please. Fear receded, and my smile returned.

"If that is what you believe, Akina-hime, then it must be the true," I replied politely. In my heart I denied everything.

"Nothing is ever easy with you, is it, Saotome?" Akina said with a sigh. "Well if that approach won't work, I'll try another. Sing with me, kohai."

Akina sang. Her heavenly voice filled the room like an angelic choir. The silvery notes pierced my ears and wound their way into my soul. The lyrics bit deep and dragged me under.

Akina sang of a warrior. A brave fighter who battled a kingdom, only to fall before its queen. But this was no sad tale. Defeat did not grant bitterness or death, but instead love and companionship.

The music called to me and my voice joined Akina's. It was a pitiful imitation. I could not match her lofty notes, nor could I keep pace with the fluttering phrases. Still I sang. As I did so, the hole torn in my heart filled anew with forgotten emotion.

_Knock, knock_.

A soft tap broke our ballad. The door opened revealing Kamiko. Hawk-like hazel eyes settled on me briefly before flipping to Akina.

Akina stood. "Continue singing, kohai," she ordered. "Kamiko and I have things to discuss"

Kamiko confirmed Akina's order with a sharp nod, and I returned to my seat. My voice fell to a whisper. With Akina no longer there to guide me, I twisted the lyrics. I felt bad doing it, but it didn't seem right to me that a mighty warrior would lose to the evil queen.

In the doorway a fierce conversation ensued.

"What do you think you are doing here, Akina?" Kamiko demanded, her voice low.

"Fixing a mistake," was Akina's retort. The dark haired woman glared at her companion. "Perhaps you would like to explain why Shizue is working on one of us?"

"Shizue was here at the Director's command, Akina. You know that."

"And?" Akina asked while lifting a brow.

Kamiko sighed. "Please don't do this, Akina. I know what you want, and you know I cannot allow it. The Director has made herself clear."

"And, once again, I fail to see your point." Akina shot back. "We are not automatons, Kamiko. Our job is to do what the Director wants not what she says. What the Director desires is a senshi. Give her one."

"I wish it were that simple, Akina. But the Director has tied my hands. Her orders were quite specific. Saotome is to be left with Shizue until, and I quote, 'she begs for forgiveness'. There is nothing I can do."

"Saotome will never beg," Akina said. "That beast does not know the meaning of the word defeat. She will fight right up until Shizue claws away the last bit of her will. After that, she will be a doll. A pretty face, useful only for bribing representatives. This is a waste. A complete and utter waste."

"That is for the Director to judge, Akina" Kamiko reprimanded. "Now, I'm going to have to ask you to leave so Shizue can complete her work."

Akina's violet eyes narrowed and her gaze switched over to me. Her ruby lips curved into a devilish smile. "If I may suggest something?"

"Please do," Kamiko said tiredly.

"The Director wants Saotome to beg. But, as long as Saotome remains under Shizue's sway, that will never happen. I think, for the Director to get what she wants, Saotome will need plenty of time to experience the true horror of what's happening to her."

Kamiko squeezed her eyes shut and her fingers dribbled rapidly on the door's frame. "One hour sessions, each day, until the desired template is reached. That was what the original XT-11 experiment called for. I can use that as an excuse if the Director asks."

"An improvement, but not much of one," Akina said with disgust. "Very well, if Shizue is to spend an hour with our kohai every day, then I will spend just as long repairing the damage. Send me her schedule so I can rearrange mine."

"Akina, you can't undo Shizue's magic," Kamiko said gently. "If Saotome-chan doesn't yield, she will break."

"I know my limits, Kamiko. And I don't need to stop Shizue. I only need to slow her down," Akina retorted. "Eventually you will come to your senses. Basic Education is your division, Kamiko. You have the authority to overrule the Director. The Director gave you that authority for a reason. Use it."

The women stood in silence, the shorter Akina gazing up into Kamiko's eyes. Eventually, they turned away from each other, Kamiko leaving the room, and Akina returning to my side.

"Well, Saotome, it appears that we will be spending a great deal of time together," Akina said. "So tell me, what it is you do to keep yourself occupied?"

I stopped my whispered singing. What I liked to do? Ah, the Institute had taught me the answer to that. "My hobbies are martial arts and sewing," I said with a pleasant smile.

"Martial arts and sewing," Akina repeated. "The first is more vulgar than I like, and, brute that you are, the second must be something Kamiko made up. Very well. We will learn to sew together. And to mix things up, I will teach you how to sing and dance. Perhaps a bit of choreography will add a touch of feminine grace when you are smashing your opponent through the nearest solid object. How does that sound?"

Honestly, singing, dancing, and sewing didn't sound particularly interesting. But I gave a courteous smile and said, "Wonderful."

-oOo-

Kamiko placed her clipboard on the living room table and settled into her seat. _Tap. Tap. Tap. _Her black, ballpoint pen drummed out a steady beat. The motion stopped a second later when Kamiko spoke. "Saotome-chan, this is a simple interview to see where you stand prior to your first adjustment. How do you feel?"

Terrible. Two weeks had passed in the blur. Every morning, Shizue had come. For an hour we would chat amiably while she ripped out my soul. Then, at eight thirty precisely, Akina took over. She inflicted on me sewing, dancing, and singing, all the while working her magic to undo the damage Shizue did. The tidal forces were tearing me apart.

The drunken haze broke yesterday, a product of Kamiko's three day ban on Shizue's sessions until my 'adjustment' was complete.

But, even with that tiny scrap of time, I didn't feel anywhere close to myself.

"Better," I answered in the end.

"Good. Like most tenki related coercions, dollification fades with time. Now, I am going to ask you some questions. Please answer quickly and concisely. Name?"

"Saotome-chan."

I didn't use my first name. It was forbidden.

"Sex."

I paused for half a second, a faded vestige of resistance barely worth noting. "Female."

Kamiko took a moment to scribble out a line. "Favorite color?"

"Black," I answered automatically.

Kamiko nodded and fixed me with her hazel eyes. "And how do you feel about the colors pink and white?"

I grimaced. Black, white, and pink were the theme colors of my transformation. A fate I had brought upon myself. The Institute had done nothing to inflict those colors upon me. It didn't need to. Tenki shifted the soul and generated a gravitational attraction to all its themes

Contemplating my future was making me nauseous. I gave the answer Kamiko wanted to hear.

"I like those too."

Kamiko busied herself scrawling out a long set of notes. "Akina tells me that your sewing skills are improving at an exceptional rate. How does that make you feel?"

I glanced away, my cheeks flushing. "Good, I guess."

"I would love to see some of your work, but we will save that for another time," Kamiko said, sounding honest. She unclipped her board and changed the page. "Your combined academics are up seventeen points, a good bit of progress for a mere three weeks. Still, you remain below the standards expected from a senshi. As such, I am increasing the time you spend with your tutor on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to two hours. Try to keep up."

Kamiko flipped the page back, and pushed her clipboard to the side. She looked straight at me, scrutinizing my every action. "My next questions may make you uncomfortable, but please do your best to answer them anyway.

"What word do you believe best describes you?"

My eyes dilated and a comforting warmth spread from heart. I felt light and slightly dizzy. Unbidden, my mouth opened ready to deliver the ingrained response. "I-"

_Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it._

I tried to choke it off. Better answers flashed through my mind: I'm a guy, I'm a martial artist, I'm a girl. Any of those would have been better...

_Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it._

"- am a doll."

There was a sickening, twisting sense of horror when the words left my mouth. In a way, it measured the power of Shizue's influence. I wanted to take those words back and bury them in darkness for all eternity. But, all the more horribly, I wanted to say them again. Again and again, repeating the declaration until every cell in my body acknowledged its new existence.

I did neither.

Instead, I stared down at the table my hands folded neatly in my lap. I hated myself all the more for how fragile and feminine I looked. I hated that I was wearing a cute dress with lace and ruffles. I hated how my hair was tied back by a pretty bow that I had put there myself. I hated the makeup I was wearing. I hated how much time I had spent in front of a mirror, making myself look nice for Kamiko's interview.

But, above all else, what I hated was that I was starting to like it.

I was losing. Two more weeks being devoured by the Institute, and I had no clue how I would escape. How I would turn everything around. How I would _win._

"Look at me, Saotome-chan."

I didn't move.

Kamiko sighed and reached across the table to snag my tiara. An electric current shot through the metal frame and my body went cold. Kamiko had added a 'rule'.

"You are not to refer to yourself as a doll, Saotome-chan. Doing so will now cause automatic punishment. I apologize for the difficulties this will cause. Shizue's magic is more powerful than my conditioning. But please try to bear with it."

Kamiko lowered herself into her seat. She looked at me thoughtfully, then her expression turned to stone. "Next question, Saotome-chan. If you were ordered to have carnal relations with a man, would you comply?"

At first I failed to grasp the question. The concept was foreign, nonsensical. Then I started to quiver. Not because of how I felt: disgusted, angry, helpless. But because of what that question meant. The Institute, I had learned, could make me say yes. What truly terrified me was that Shizue could make me _want_ to say yes.

"Please don't make me do that," I said, tears leaking out.

I was begging. It wasn't so I wouldn't have to say 'yes'. A mere word meant nothing any more. I was begging against a future where I would be asked to take that role. I begging Kamiko not to turn me into a girl who could answer that question 'correctly' and mean it.

There was silence between us, only broken by the swift movements of Kamiko's pen. She glanced at me on occasion, her face revealing nothing. Every second that ticked by made me feel smaller and more pathetic.

"I am cutting your sessions with Shizue to twice a week," she said after a long moment. "I don't suppose you'll apologize to the Director and save me from having to overrule her?"

My brain stopped briefly. I didn't have to answer the question? What did that mean? I was confused. I was relieved. But on the question of the Director, I was bitter. "Would Artemis accept a fake apology?" I asked hatefully. "Would she believe it if I pretended to beg?"

Kamiko was quite for a moment, then she admitted the truth. "No, she wouldn't."

Of course she wouldn't. Artemis wasn't Kamiko. Artemis wasn't looking for marginal steps in the direction she desired, even if they were laced with lies. Artemis had placed her ultimatum. She wanted me to beg, to wallow in the mud, to destroy myself for her favor. False obedience and shattered pride would not be enough. Artemis would make me prove I had broken.

And the things Artemis could ask for were too horrible to contemplate.

Better to be a doll. With Shizue I could at least 'die' fighting.

"The answer I wanted to hear was: _no,_" Kamiko said, breaking the silence. "You are a senshi, Saotome-chan. I will not see you degraded in that manner. It reflects badly on the Institute. That we have girls who serve that role at all was against my objections."

I stared at the table. I didn't know what to say. "Thank you," I mumbled.

Kamiko looked at me quietly, her hazel eyes shadowed by a strange emotion. Then she stood. "That concludes the interview. Please follow me. I deem you fit for adjustment. We will proceed to the dive chamber immediately."

-oOo-

The dive chamber consisted of two metal tubes slanted at a thirty degree angle. Thick cords and pipes emerged from the tops, the nerves and veins of a grotesque monster. To the side was a dividing wall of glass with tables and computers flush against. Michiko glanced at me from the other side of the partition when I entered, but quickly buried herself in her work.

"Please remove your clothes, Saotome-chan, then enter the tube to the right," Kamiko ordered.

I obeyed, neatly folding each garment before setting it upon the desk provided. While I undressed, Kamiko surprised me by doing the same.

I entered the right side tube a few seconds before Kamiko entered the left. The dive chamber's tube was thinner than the one in Michiko's lab, no more than three hand spans broader than my shoulders. I settled against the tube's cushioned back in a position that was closer to laying than standing.

I was only barely getting situated when Michiko marched up the raised walkway. Her hands moved quickly, seizing a mask and jamming it onto my face.

"Secure the breathing device. The seal must be solid or you will drown," Michiko commanded.

Michiko did not check that I complied. Instead, the woman began attaching suction cups to my skin. While she worked, I examined the mask. It was clear and plastic, with an articulated pipe that connected to the tube. The elastic band seemed simple enough, so I slipped the device in place so that it covered both nose and mouth. A slight difference in pressure suctioned the mask to my face and held it solid.

I breathed in and out with only minor difficulty.

Once the last pad was in place, Michiko pulled a heavy mechanical helmet down and onto my head. The apparatus clicked into position, clamping onto my tiara. An electric jolt shot through me. Odd static like feelings played with my senses.

Michiko set a hand on the tube's door and paused. Her steel blue eyes scrutinized me, checking and double checking that every instrument was in place.

_Chung. Hiss. Burble. _She slammed the lid closed. The atmosphere inside adjusted slightly and a warm, wet liquid began to bubble up from the bottom of the tube. It wasn't water. The aqua tinted liquid was too thick. I watched curiously as it rose up and over my shins, wondering if I would transform.

I didn't. I expected as much. Michiko probably knew more about my curse than I did.

Head held in place, I shifted my eyes to the far side to see Michiko attending Kamiko. I watched and waited, the not-water crawling higher every second until it flowed over my head. I floated there for maybe a minute longer before Michiko walked away.

_Screeeeeeee!_

The nasty high pitch squeal was more than sound. It was a sensation. My ears rang. My skin tingled. A sharp metallic flavor wrapped my tongue and rapid ripples shredded my vision. Every nerve reverberated as though I were the string of instrument.

_Thug!_

Not a sound but a sudden, solid kick. With that single blast I vanished into nothingness.

_Thug!_

Then I came back. Normal senses resumed. I could feel clothes brushing against my skin and taste the air that flowed into my lungs. I drifted in a false darkness. Blackness surrounded me, utter void, yet I was perfectly illuminated. More than that, I was male and wearing my old shirt and pants combo.

I blinked taking in the sight. There was a sense of clarity, as though a haze had been blown from my mind. Memories filtered by me, undistorted but all the more confusing for it.

What had driven me to dress up for Kamiko's interview? Why had I bothered to fold those girly clothes? I had been playing the obedient girl all day. Hell, I had just strapped myself in to get adjusted.

My mouth twisted in disgust at my actions. Pathetic. I was pathetic. In the last two weeks I had barely been touched by _agony_.

And that was downright terrifying. Shizue's magic, I realized with horror, had distorted my thinking so strongly that I had lost the ability to resist.

Damn it. Don't think about pointless things, Ranma. The past is the past. What mattered now was how I was going to win.

I dragged my mind back out of the pits and glanced again through the darkness.

"Where am I?" I asked out loud

Surprisingly, I got an answer.

"Null space," Michiko's disembodied voice answered. "Null space is a minimal active area that serves as a staging point for entry, exit, and preparation. Once XT-02, Kamiko Ogura, is fully integrated with the system, you will exit null space and enter virtual space, a metaphorical reality based upon your psyche. Adjustment will begin immediately thereafter."

I folded my arms and floated backward in a slow spin. "And what, exactly, is adjustment?"

Michiko responded to the question without the slightest hesitation. "Adjustment: A procedure that utilizes technological devices to extend and moderate XT-02's capacity for neural reformation. Specifically, adjustment is a processes that resolves or elicits internal conflicts. This, in turn, generates shifts in the subject's mental paradigms and predispositions."

"Could you, uh, explain that again? Maybe in, say, a language I can understand?"

There was a brief pause, and I could almost see Michiko's slightly disappointed expression. Yeah, extra special science quizzes courtesy Michiko were in my future.

"Paradigm shift: A fundamental change of approach. A classic scientific case would be the shift from using an earth centric model to a sol centric model of the solar system.

"Predisposition: natural preference as driven by the brain's neurological reward and punishment mechanisms. A shift in predisposition results in a semi-permanent alteration in the way the brain reacts to specific stimuli. For instance, a change in predisposition might increase or decrease the reward associated with solving a math problem."

Scrunching my face I tried to render Michiko's words into examples I could understand. "So, adjustment could, say, make me think the institute was my friend instead of my enemy?"

"Affirmative," Michiko answered. "A foe to ally switch would constitute a paradigm shift. Such a result is within the realm of adjustment. However, adjustment is an entropic process that inherently destroys information. Thus, as the pool of information required to exert a change grows, the risks of adjustment grow with it. Excessive adjustment causes severe neurological damage. Known side effects include: nerve degeneration, memory loss, mental illnesses, coma, vegetation, and death.

"In order to avoid or reduce these side effects an iterative process is used. The temporal spacing of adjustment procedures allows the mind to adapt and build upon mental changes. Conditioning forces the subject into new situations and causes the brain to generate justifications and rationalizations. Dollification and personality implantation allow the direct injection of complete ideas and paradigms that can then be strengthened, modified, or combined with existing mental processes."

"Okay. I think I gotcha. So, while adjustment is going to fiddle with my head, I'm not going to wake up thinking we are all one big, world destroying family," I said.

"Affirmative. Familial feelings are unlikely to be fully formed until after your second or third adjustment," Michiko answered.

"Uh... okay." I shifted uncomfortably. "While all this paradigm stuff is interesting, what I really want to know is how adjustment works. From my perspective I mean."

"Adjustment, as observed from the subject, is simplistic and highly metaphorical. In process terms, adjustment is carried out by relocating aspects, virtual representations of the subject's personality, to the null space nexus point. Thereafter XT-02 will be able to enhance, diminish, reinterpret, or combine existing traits in -"

"Michiko, please refrain from telling Saotome-chan everything there is to know about adjustment."

Kamiko stood tall in the darkness beside me. With her low heeled pumps, slacks, maroon sweater, and no nonsense demeanor she projected a sense of order into empty void. Even gravity was commanded by Kamiko's presence, giving her a solid orientation even as I floated freely.

"The information provided does not exceed the bounds allowed to a senshi."

"I am less concerned with secrecy than the fact Saotome-chan will almost certainly attempt to sabotage her adjustment. Giving her the knowledge required to do so efficiently does not make my work easier."

"Hey! You do realize that I am a guy right now, don't you?" I said thumbing at myself. I grinned a second later. No _agony_ for saying I was a guy. Cool. "I'm a guy! I'm a guy! I'm a guy!" I shouted happily while spinning through the darkness.

Kamiko looked at me and sighed. "Michiko, insert us please, and give Saotome-chan a more appropriate form."

"Hey," I growled. "I like the way I- waaaaa!"

_Thud._

I hit the ground head first after a small drop. Nursing my skull, I rolled up into a sitting position and looked around.

We were in a wasteland. Cracked, parched dirt was broken only by jagged steel pillars that jutted into heaven. I followed them up to see a sky of orange and violet crowned by a titanic halo of gold.

Far ahead, wasteland broke. The most dominant features being a foreboding mountain and a twinkling, crystal spire. Enveloping both was a low lying swamp. Long rivers wound their way through the thick vegetation only to be split by a mighty wall that sliced across the horizon. Beyond the swamp and to the east the land transformed into rolling fields of green.

"Michiko, Saotome-chan is still in her male form," Kamiko called out. A few seconds later she sighed. "She always gets like this when someone interrupts her explanations. Come along Saotome-chan, we have work to do."

I snorted, folded my arms, and continued sitting on the ground. "And why would I help you?"

Kamiko sharp, hazel eyes pierced mine. I held her gaze, unwavering. I was making a gutsy bet that Kamiko lacked _agony_ and _bliss_. The lack of punishment at calling myself a guy hinted at the first, the separate tubes hinted at the second, but there was only one way to know for sure.

When Kamiko rubbed her temples with her fingers my suspicion was confirmed.

"Please don't start this again, Saotome-chan. I cannot tolerate obstinacy at this stage. Adjustment has serious risks even when the subject is cooperative."

"If you're trying to convince me to move you'll have to do better than that."

"It appears I have not made myself clear," Kamiko said sternly. "You _will _provide at least a _minimal_ level of cooperation, Saotome-chan. This is not an option. Should you refuse, I will assign additional sessions with Shizue until such a time that you comply."

I scowled deep. I was half tempted to keep sitting, but even a single hour with Shizue wasn't worth it. Hell, if I had been smart enough to keep my mouth closed in front of Artemis I might have been out of this mess already.

"Fine," I said. I pulled myself to my feet. "But don't expect anything other than the absolute minimum."

"Excellent. Now let us proceed. Quickly, please. I don't have all day."

Kamiko turned her back and walked away. I followed silentlystewing in my frustration.

The wasteland vanished at a dizzying speed, dozens of kilometers crossed in mere minutes. Soon were moving through light jungle and after that rolling hills. A small village appeared in the distance. Only then did our pace begin slow until it approached something explicable.

The village was tiny, a dozen houses gathered in a circle with a couple more scattered on the outskirts. The dirt road we were following took us to the village center, but not before swinging near an ornate dojo.

As we walked I stared at the person practicing outside. Ranma Saotome. The clone wore a white dogi covered in dust. Other than that, we were identical. He had the same build, hair and face. He moved just as I would, completing a complex kata with a perfect imitation of my grace.

Then he vanished behind the crest of a hill.

Dirt road gave way to brick. The whole of the village's center was paved, but green was more abundant than stone. Soft grass and short trees were abound. In the middle of it all was a statute. Ranma Saotome, five meters tall and carved from marble. A Greek god holding gekkaja aloft while Saffron lay crushed at his feet.

I nodded in appreciation. Yeah. I really was that awesome.

In front of the statue stood another Ranma. He wore a brilliant white toga and had his arms held wide as though to accept infinite praise from the crowd gathered around him. Female Furinkan students pushed up to the front, fighting amongst themselves for the chance to bask in his glory, only to swoon when confronted by the man's magnificent radiance.

Okay. I'll admit. _That_ was pushing it.

My eyes drifted away from the toga wearing Ranma, scanned across the row of houses, and stopped on a tiny, dingy building. A church whose steeple bore the sign of Venus instead of a cross.

Kamiko came to a halt and my attention jerked back to my immediate surroundings.

We stood before a redheaded girl sitting on a bench. The girl stared off into the distance with vacant blue eyes. Yet another clone, this one of my female form. Floating over either shoulder were two more copies, each no taller than an ear. Both were male and wore my standard Chinese shirt and kung-fu pants, the only difference being that one dressed all in red and the other all in black.

Where the girl sat silent, the gnomes of black and red bickered loudly.

"Girls should wear skirts and dresses. Girls should use makeup and make themselves pretty. Girls should be kind, not violent," the black Ranma declared.

"So?" the red Ranma said scornfully. "She's not a girl. She's a guy!"

"A guy? Then what are these?" the black Ranma asked. The gnome jumped up and down on the girl's left breast in emphasis. "Last time I checked, guys don't have boobs."

"She's a guy even when she's a girl," the red Ranma retorted. The copy turned away in a stubborn gesture that denied the truth.

"No matter how you look at it, she's a girl." The gnome grabbed one of the girl's ear and shoved his entire face into it. "So get up and dress properly!"

The glazed eye girl started to stand, but the red Ranma hopped up on her head and, despite his tiny size, shoved her back down.

"Sit!" the red Ranma ordered. "Don't listen to Chauvinist. You are a guy and guys don't act like girls."

"Those three will do," Kamiko interrupted. "Bring them to the wasteland so I can convert them into something useful."

I looked at Kamiko then back at the girl on the bench. The argument continued with a new refrain. There was no sign that the fight between red and black would ever let up.

My expression fell into a scowl. Was I really going to do this? Help Kamiko butcher my mind? But what alternative did I have? If left to Shizue, I would become a doll for sure. Worse, as long as I remained in her grasp there would never be a chance for escape.

Yet, what was the guarantee this was any different? Would I arise from my adjustment still able to fight? Or would Kamiko nudge me over the edge so that I dreamed of being a magical princess?

"Best to get it over and done with, Saotome-chan," Kamiko pressed. "It will not become any more palatable while you wait."

"With eyes of diamond, an elegant hawk hunts its prey. What fierce beauty you possess. But you shall not snatch any of us today, witch. Your talons will break upon the strength of Ranma Saotome."

With poetic prose a kendoist entered the scene. Bokken resting on his right shoulder, he posed epically in his blue kendo dogi. For a second, I thought it was Kuno. That illusion was dashed when I caught the kendoist's face. The same as mine.

"You." Kamiko let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"Indeed. It is I," the kendoist pronounced. "Now, let us meet in furious battle. Prepare yourself for defeat, for my name is Victory!"

Shouting the last as battle cry, kendo Ranma dashed in, his sword poised to strike. Kamiko made no motion to defend, instead she held up a hand and spoke a single word.

"Come."

The sky exploded. Inky clouds materialized from nothing and blue vanished into black. A shadow fell upon the village. An eerie darkness broken only by the foul glow emanating from the heavenly halo. But, the halo was no halo at all. It was a giant tiara held aloft by jagged probes thrust into my mind.

Heaven churned then bulged downward. The roiling mass descended as though reaching out to gouge the earth. From that darkness burst a monster. A four legged titan as broad as ship. It crashed into the ground. Brick shattered. Dirt burst out in a wave.

Then it lunged.

The creature moved with deadly grace, lashing out with a claw the size of a bus. The blow hit the kendoist head on, flinging him aside. He flew in a low arc, smashing through the statue as he went. Impossibly, the kendo clone recovered in midair. He flipped and landed on his feet, his wooden sandals sliding over grass as though it were ice.

"I fight on!" the kendoist shouted.

The demon yowled in answer.

_Terror_. Every drop of blood in my body turned to ice. I stood there, petrified, unable to think much less move. It wasn't just me. The whole town was frozen. The Furinkan girls were fainted on the ground. The toga Ranma stood as still as a statue. The kendoist was stopped in mid charge, his pigtail shooting out behind him from the shock.

In the stillness only Kamiko remained mobile. Fearlessly, she strode over to the colossal creature and climbed onto its back using the steel lightning bolts jutting from its body as hand holds.

A small, rough hand slapped over my mouth.

I jerked instinctively, suddenly free of the paralysis, but my captor pulled me back, hard. I struggled against the grip. The hold tightened, pressing my back into a pair of breasts. With gorilla strength the girl lifted me clean off the ground, then, before I could react, threw me through an open window and into the church.

I tucked myself into a ball so I passed through the portal unharmed then landed on my feet. I whirled to face my attacker. A tomboyish smirk met my effort. With a lazy hop, the girl slipped into the building behind me.

Another clone. Red hair, blue eyes, a simple shirt with kung-fu pants, the copy stood with arrogant pride, her ample breasts shamelessly pushed out as though to declare her femininity.

"Sorry about that," she greeted, not sounding the least bit sorry. "I just wanted to talk to you alone."

I watched the other me warily. I didn't fully understand this world. Aspects, virtual space, it was nothing but nonsense to me. Talking to a doppleganger did not put me at ease. I had met lookalikes before, and all I had gotten from it was trouble.

I glanced out the window. Somehow kendo Ranma had pulled himself free. He was now fencing the shadowy titan. The battle was intense but the results of the match were clear to see. The four legged beast would surely win.

I returned my eyes to my kidnapper, "Who are you?"

The girl flashed a broad grin. "Ranma Saotome, but you can call me Tomboy," Tomboy said. She shot a glance over her shoulder. "We need to be quick about this. Victory is keeping that bitch, Kamiko, busy right now. But Victory won't last more than a minute against Nightmare. So, if we are going to do this, the best time is right now. Strike when the iron is hot and all that..."

"Best time for what exactly?" I asked, my voice filled with suspicion. I wasn't about to trust Tomboy on her say so. Not with the Institute screwing with my head.

Tomboy's chest puffed with pride. "Glad you asked. Because I've got a great plan. The best plan. The two of us, we are going to pull the wool over that bitch's eyes."

"Uh huh," I grunted. "Sure we are, now spit it out."

Tomboy's smile vanished and she leaned in real close. "Are you saying my plan is no good?"

"Given that I'm not hearing anything, yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying," I retorted. I glared right back. I wasn't going to be stared down by a fake.

For a second it looked like Tomboy was going to punch me in the jaw, but after a short staring match she jerked away and scowled out the window. Daylight was returning. The sounds of battle had grown distant. Kamiko, Nightmare, and Victory had vanished from sight.

"Fine. I get it. You don't trust me. So I'll explain," Tomboy said. "But just so you know, this is all a waste of time."

"Yeah, well, I'll be the judge of that," I replied.

I understood what Tomboy was getting at and I shared her concern. But, right now, Kamiko was the devil I knew and Tomboy the devil I didn't.

"Okay. See female-mask, over there, on the bench," Tomboy said pointing out the window. "Kamiko wants her, right? Now, what we are-"

"Whoa, hold on a second there," I cut in. "Female-mask? How about you explain stuff more clearly."

Tomboy folded her arms across her chest. It had the effect of making her already large bust more prominent. Damn, I made one hot chick.

"I told you we don't have much time," Tomboy argued.

I snorted. "Yeah, and guess who is wasting it now?"

"Damn it. Stop being stupid," Tomboy growled. "We are both Ranma Saotomes here. Just trust me on this, okay?"

"I spent the last three weeks being girlified by the Pretty Princess Institute. Now, right after entering my own head, a _girl _me is trying to get me to do something for her. Tell me, how is that not suspicious? Besides, I'm Ranma Saotome. You're a fake."

"If I am a fake so are you," Tomboy retorted. "Since you didn't get the memo, let me explain. I'm Ranma Saotome," she said thumbing to herself. She pointed out the window at the girl on the bench. "That's Ranma Saotome. The bastards sitting on Female-mask's shoulders are Ranma Saotome. Ego, the toga wearing freak, is Ranma Saotome. The whole crowd worshiping him is Ranma Saotome. Victory is Ranma Saotome. Nightmare is Ranma Saotome. The sky, the ground, the trees-

"Are Ranma Saotome." I finished. I tapped my foot to make it clear that my patience was waning.

"Exactly! This," Tomboy waved her hands in wide gesture, "is Ranma Saotome's mind. You, me, and everything else here, except Kamiko and that damn tiara, are a part of Ranma Saotome. I thought that much was obvious, but apparently I'm stupider than I thought."

I glared at Tomboy. She was starting to piss me off. In fact, the idea of putting my fist in her face had an increasing appeal.

"Get to the point."

"That _was_ the point. I am Tomboy, the part of Ranma Saotome that likes being a girl. I'm the one who was saying: _hey, what's the rush?_ after Herb nailed us with the locking ladle."

Tomboy pointed outside. "The girl on the bench, that's Female-mask. She represents how you feel you should act when you a girl. The bastards on her shoulders are Denial and that piece of shit scum Chauvinist. Stupid little freak thinks we should turn ourselves into a gender stereotype just because we grew breasts."

I folded my arms across my chest, unconsciously duplicating Tomboy's posture. "So, what you are saying is that you are just a personality part."

"I'm not _just _a personality part. I'm the _best_ personality part," Tomboy boasted. "And it isn't _you_ its _we_. You are Ranma's 'will'. Basically, that means that you are the lazy bum all of us shout at when we want 'Ranma Saotome' to do something." Tomboy made another wide gesture when she named us, indicating she was talking about the sum of the parts.

"Now can we get to the plan? Preferably _now_ before Kamiko shows up, gets pissed, and throws us to Shizue."

I scowled. I didn't like being told I was only a fragment of Ranma Saotome. Nothing had changed since I had dropped into this world. Well, actually, things had changed. From the moment I had set foot in null space my head had been clear. If I accepted Tomboy's words that made sense. I was the purified 'will' of Ranma Saotome. All the crap that had been clogging up my thinking? Well, it was probably around here somewhere.

"Fine. Tell me about this great plan of yours, then."

Tomboy smirked and bounced off the window sill. She sped across the small, dingy church and grabbed a pair of bottles. "Here's what we'll do. You use these to capture Denial and Chauvinist. Once they're gone, I'll handle Female-mask. Simple, right?"

"Yeah, and afterwards you get to dictate how I act as a girl," I rolled my eyes. Was I really this obvious? "How about you start convincing me why I should let you girlify me even further."

Tomboy stomped across the room and slammed the bottles on the window sill. "You want a reason? I'll give you a reason. While we sit here and argue, Kamiko is doing her best to grab _all three_ of those aspects. Those stupid idiots can't defend themselves, and they wont move either, not until their argument is settled. _Which will never happen_. So, instead of letting Kamiko have them, we bottle those two bastards up. Afterwards, you can put them on Forbidden Mountain or something. Kamiko will never get them there."

There was sense in what Tomboy said. I wasn't sure how bottling Denial and Chauvinist would protect them, but I didn't know how this place worked. Still, Tomboy had a couple of big holes in her plan.

"I still don't to see why I should turn Female-mask over to you."

"Female-mask is just a shell. A sock puppet. The only parts of you that particularly care about how you act as a girl are those mindless bastards, Doll, and me. Only one of us can have her, and since we are knocking Chauvinist and Denial out of the picture, who do _you_ want it to be?"

A nasty scowl spread across my face. Doll. To think that Shizue's disgusting creation had taken up residence in my head. A part of me wanted to say screw Kamiko, hunt that monster down, and kill it.

I forced my mind back to the problem at hand. "Fine. I'll do it, but only because I'm not thinking of anything better. Still, we've got a problem. Kamiko put her foot down. If we don't give her something we are going to spend the next week being brainwashed by Shizue."

"Shizue. Damn. I forgot about her." Tomboy scowled. "I guess you'll have to give the bitch one of the bottles then. Or hand her that jerk Masculinity. Its all the same to me."

I glared. Tomboy's casual suggestion that I do away with masculinity didn't inspire trust. I stomped on that feeling and snatched up the bottles. Right now Tomboy's plan was the only one I had.

I glanced out the window. Dark clouds had given way to a beautiful, sunlit day. The sounds of fighting were gone. I grimaced. Tomboy was right. We were wasting precious time.

Decision made, I hurdled the church window. A few dozen paces after that and I was standing before Female-mask.

"Girls should cook for their family. So, why haven't you been waking up early to cook?"

"Because she's a guy, you nit-"

Denial's denial was silenced when a glass jar swallowed him. The red clothed Ranma bounced off the bottom of the glass then lurched toward the opening. I slammed the metal lid closed, cutting off the tiny copy's escape. _Tuh tuh tuh_. Denial beat uselessly on the inside of the glass.

Securing Denial under my left arm, I opened the second jar. Chauvinist buzzed away and slipped behind Female-mask. He peeked over her shoulder, using her body as a shield.

"Hey wait! What are you doing!" Chauvinist cried out. "I mean, good going partner. Getting rid of that moron, Denial, was a brilliant idea. Now that he's gone our girl form is going to start acting right and proper, like a girl should. So, how about you put down that jar and- _whaaaa!_"

_Whouom_. Air reverberated across the bottle's opening as I swung at Chauvinist. The black Ranma dived from his perch in an effort to escape, but I was faster. With the twist of my wrist the bottle's trajectory changed. With Chauvinist captured I began to screw the lid on tight.

"Great work!" Tomboy yelled.

Tomboy beamed at me as she rushed from the church and over to the confused but curious Female-mask. Tomboy's eyes drank in the sight of her prize, as though she were admiring a trophy.

I shot Tomboy a look of irritation.

"I didn't do it for you," I retorted.

"No, but you will be glad you did! Things are finally looking up for- Crap!" Tomboy cut herself off when darkness shrouded the land like a blanket.

Nightmare.

The colossal, four-legged shadow descended at a run. Its forepaws slammed into the ground only meters in front of me. Earth trembled under the titanic weight. I stumbled away, my heart freezing with the raw _fear_ of Nightmare's presence.

Denial's jar slipped through shaking fingers.

Terror yielded to desperation. With the toe of my shoe I caught the jar only centimeters above brick. The sudden shift and panicked motions conspired against me. Even as I flipped Denial back up into the air, Chauvinist slid free. I made a mad dive downward.

Nightmare yowled.

My breath stop. Icy tremors rattled through my bones. _Terror. _Indescribable fear nailed me in place with adamant chains. _Crash!_ Glass shattered on the ground. A tiny Ranma zipped free, flashing away and toward Female-mask. I wasn't sure which of the two bottles I had missed until Denial's jar landed in my prepositioned palm.

Somehow, I summoned the wit to keep my grip.

Nightmare strolled forward, passing by so close that its whiskers brushed against my cheek. In a lazy gesture, the demon lifted a midnight paw and swatted Tomboy away. Slowly the creature turned back, mighty muscles rippling beneath shadowy fur. It paused next to me, giant, slitted eyes glaring into my own.

Then the demon the continued on its way. It stopped at the village center where it curled up on the ground. With a small, slimy tongue, it began lick its dark coat clean.

"Run run run!" Chauvinist shouted.

My head jerked to the side and I spotted the black clothed Ranma perched on Female-mask's head. He held tufts of hair between his tiny hands as though they were the reins of a great beast. Female-mask tore forward at Chauvinist's urging, disappearing between buildings. A puny, functional part of my brain remembered the direction they headed.

Kamiko rose on her mount and gazed down at me. Her hazel eyes flickered to the jar in my left hand. "Hand that over, please. Then you will help me collect the runaways."

I looked at Denial. The red Ranma was wobbling swirly eyed in the jar. I looked back at Kamiko and narrowed my eyes.

"No."

"Saotome-chan. Please do not force this issue. My ultimatum serves neither of our interests."

My grip on Denial's jar became white knuckled. I swallowed, but my throat remained dry. "Minimal effort," I began. "That's what you said. I'll give you one of them, but not all three."

"I did say that didn't I?" Kamiko sighed. "Very well. I will indulge you for now. However, I will accept no less than two, and one of them must be Female-mask. Is that clear?"

I opened my mouth and closed it again. No. I'd hold my ground here. "One and only one," I managed to growl out.

Kamiko's eyes narrowed. "This isn't a game, Saotome-chan. Do not make this harder than it has to be."

I tried to stay confident but my mouth had turned into a desert. I was shaking. Adrenaline and fear ran like rivers through my veins. I knew the consequences of defiance. The PPI had trained me in ways I would never forget. Even if... no _when_ I escaped this hell hole, I would not be the same person that entered. I had already changed. Changed in ways Kamiko intended and in those she had not.

This was a bet. A gamble that Kamiko wouldn't invoke her ultimatum, that her desire for a senshi was greater than her need for control. I was gambling with my life, another week or two with Shizue was probably more than I could take.

But I couldn't give up either. I was Ranma Saotome. I fought and fought and fought until, through sheer stubbornness, I won. To me victory was not a mere desire, but a need. I didn't know how to give up. That was who I was.

"Not a game," I said through parched lips. "A fight."

"Saotome-chan, I will not-"

I rolled on, speaking louder to drown her out. I couldn't stop now. The moment Kamiko announced a clear stance, she would never back down.

"A battle royal. Winner takes all."

Silence followed my announcement. To my shock, Kamiko was considering my offer. I had expected to be shot down outright.

"And what does winner takes all mean, Saotome-chan?"

Kamiko's eyes were the narrowed slits of a predator. I had seen her exhausted. I had seen her cold. I had seen her watch dispassionately as she tortured me with _agony,_ the all-business look of a woman that had done the same thing to hundreds girls and no longer felt anything for it. This, though, was the first time I had seen Kamiko on the hunt.

A chill went down my spine. I had a vague impression that if I didn't make myself perfectly clear the consequences would be dire.

"Those three," I said hurriedly, "Chauvinist, Denial, and Female-mask."

The predatory gaze vanished, and Kamiko resumed her authoritative stance. "If that is the case, I will set the terms. I get one aspect, no matter what. You _will_ approve of my alteration of the aspects I capture. Capture will be accepted when I have the aspects in the wasteland and in my grasp. If Female-mask is not one of the aspects I have captured, you will exchange her for an aspect of your choice. Do we have a deal?"

Kamiko's offer was identical to her revised demand. Yeah, she had left a little wiggle room. I could make things better or worse. I didn't like it.

"No. With terms like that, how am I supposed to win?"

"This is not a battle, Saotome-chan. This is a procedure. I can tolerate achieving less than I had intended, but I cannot tolerate achieving nothing at all," Kamiko said evenly. "If that is not sufficient, then consider this. The Director will be quite displeased should your adjustment fail. At the very minimum, that will put my promise of reduced sessions with Shizue at risk.

"Now, please make your decision, Saotome-chan."

"Fine," I spat. "But, Forbidden Mountain counts as my win. If I get an aspect there, you can't touch it, got it?"

"Acceptable. Is the matter settled, then?"

My expression twisted. "Yeah. We've got a deal."

No sooner did the words leave my mouth then the world gave a deep shudder. Uh... What just happened?

"Thank you, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said. "Since I may now do so safely, I will take the aspect you are holding by force."

Nightmare pulled itself to its feet. An aura of malevolence stretched out as the four-legged beast stalked forward. It stopped its movement a dozen meters from me and crouched low. The demon's muscles shifted, leg tendons storing strength that waited to be unleashed.

Palpable fear washed over me, and my heart beat faster. Energy, not terror, roared through my veins. I welcomed the rush of adrenaline, my face splitting into a smile. It was stupid. It was foolish. The deal I had made with Kamiko did nothing but delay the inevitable. Yet, right now, I felt _alive._

Come and fight me, if you dare. This is _my_ battlefield and like hell I am going to lose while on it.

I moved. Nightmare pounced. The giant demon surged into the air, its monstrous paws stretching out to capture me. With the creature's colossal size the movement was slow, but the strikes were so wide that any advantage that might have imparted vanished. I dived to the side and hit the ground in a tight roll. Claws swept over me, millimeters short.

Palms met earth, and, in an instant, I was flying through the air. A barrage of forepaws struck in my wake, cratering the ground like mortar fire. While Nightmare rained down attacks, I scurried to the demon's right then slipped in between its legs.

The mighty beast twisted in place in an effort to catch me.

With flashing movements, I danced beneath the monster. Nightmare attacked with ceaseless aggression and in doing so tangled itself with its legs. I spent those precious seconds with reckless abandon. Instead of facing Nightmare, I retreated to the narrowest alley offered by the scarce buildings.

Nightmare uncoiled itself and lunged.

_Crash!_ The colossal body smashed into the buildings in an effort to reach me. Thick support beams cracked and bent, but, incredibly, the wooden structures held. Nightmare fell back and shook its head in fury. It lunged again and landed on the roofs. Claws stretched out to scoop me up. I dodged around them, feeling like a bird in a cage.

My eyes danced across the terrain. Damn. Damn. Damn. There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to run. Nightmare had me cornered. I grimaced. Only one choice then. I had to attack-

My mind shattered like glass. A pain that rivaled _agony_ tumbled through my brain like a thousand knives. I wobbled, stumbled, and dodged, barely escaping Nightmare's clumsy sweep. Memory had turned to fog, my last thoughts were deleted records. All I had left was a single notion.

Impossible. Nightmare cannot be defeated.

Confusion caused me to skitter into an alcove. It bought me extra protection at the cost of pinning me in place. Frustrated, Nightmare ceased its attack. The creature let out a horrible yowl that sent chills down my spine. While I fought against the paralysis, the demon sank its claws into the roofs and began to wrench the buildings apart to get at me.

Can't run. Can't fight. I was screwed. With all other methods defeated, I reverted to desperate tactics.

"Look! a giant tuna!" I screamed, pointing toward the village center.

With stupid fascination I watched Nightmare's head snap to the side. An instant later I kicked myself into motion. I sprinted out and into the rolling hills. A suicide run, but I didn't have much choice. For seconds there was silence while Nightmare stupidly searched for the nonexistent fish. Then a terrible yowl was let loose. Ice crawled up my veins and my run became ragged.

_Move!_

My sprint resumed. Nightmare rushed to catch up.

For each step Nightmare took I took five. Yet, the giant's strides dwarfed mine ten to one. The result was a foregone conclusion. Shit. Things kept getting better and better. A fighting retreat, then. I would have to drag this out while crawling my way to the swamp. When I reached the jungle, the terrain would favor me.

Steeling myself for an hour long battle, I turned to face the demon.

Only to freeze with a wide eyed stare.

_Thumph!_

Nightmare was blindsided by a fist the size of a mountain. The colossal demon thudded across the ground in a whirling ball of dark fur, only to catch itself on its feet a second later.

_Thud! _A fifty meter tall Ranma Saotome landed with a clap of thunder. It squatted between me and Nightmare, its knuckles supporting its weight as though it were a giant ape. From atop the towering Ranma a man wearing a kendo uniform shouted.

"You took flight so quickly, my beautiful falcon. But fear not, I have returned! Now we may gloriously clash anew. Steed versus steed. The steel of my sword against the blade of your wit. Let us joust!" Victory cried.

"BATTLE!" the mighty Ranma roared while beating its chest.

Nightmare met the battle cries with a fearsome yowl. The titans charged. Mountains met in midair. The gargantuan Ranma attacked first. With an almighty fist he struck the demon across the jaw with an uppercut so powerful that I could feel the thud of its impact. But, even as the Demon's body flipped upward, it lashed out. Forepaws slashed flesh. The claws bit deep, tearing wounds along the giant's forearm.

That was all it took.

_Whsssh! _Air, not blood, spewed from the giant's wound. Like an enormous balloon, the gargantuan Ranma deflated.

Victory was undeterred. He leapt from his mount with sword held high. "Have at ye!"

Slashing downward Victory plunged onto the stricken Nightmare. His bokken cracked against demon's head, causing it to cringe back.

"That's right, tremble beast! For I am Victory!"

While Victory paraded in front of his recovering enemy, the flailing giant continued to shrink.

Don't just stand there, Ranma. Move!

With raw will I forced frozen muscles forward. The icy grip of Nightmare's yowl released and I took off in a dash. I rushed for the thick grass of the plains holding my heading for half a minute before veering off in the general direction Female-mask and Chauvinist had taken.

The raging battle vanished behind me.

Minutes rolled by and my sprint turned into a jog. Dark clouds faded into bright blue sky. Tall hills rose and fell as much as a hundred meters all around me. Trees were rare and scattered. The only feature was an endless sea of grass.

My jog turned into a walk.

I scowled, staring at the plains and silently demanding that they reveal their secrets. Nothing. No trail. No signs whatsoever of Female-mask's passage. Either the girl possessed the same skill I did, or this world failed to retain the necessary signs.

"Shit," I grumbled while coming to a full halt.

Absently, I squeezed the jar held in my offhand, soothing myself with its presence. I had Denial. The tiny, red clothed Ranma glared at me and hammered at his container. I snorted and looked away. Forbidden Mountain. It loomed over the horizon, shedding an ominous aura.

No choice. Female-mask and Chauvinist had vanished. Looking for them when Nightmare was on the prowl was beyond stupid. But, even knowing that, I hated the idea. Kamiko was out there searching for the other aspects. If I wasted the time to secure Denial, those two could easily slip through my fingers.

Two is better than three, Ranma. Deal with Denial first. Once that was done there would be no way for me to lose.

Not lose? I scrunched my face in distaste. Ha! How did being rewritten more slowly count as anything but losing?

"Neaarrowwoom!"

A young boy flew out of the fields, his childish voice providing sound effects. He ran at me with arms spread wide. The kid banked to right as he approached and made a broad circle around my legs. The rice hat dangling from his neck bounced on his back the whole time.

Something about the sight made me smile.

"Hey kid," I greeted. I eyed the boy thoughtfully. Sure it was a long shot, but why not? "Say, you haven't seen Chauvinist or Female-mask around here, have you?"

"Neaarrowwoom!" The kid shot away while continuing his airplane noises. His arms suddenly went vertical and he made an abrupt turn back toward me. "Immelmann turn!"

With one last dash the kid came to a stop at my feet. He grinned up at me, bright blue eyes glowing with happiness. Faint memories of Pop's photographs filtered through my mind. Another Ranma Saotome.

"Nope!" the kid chirped. "Haven't seen her."

I patted the kid on the head. "Thanks brat."

Stepping around the young Ranma, I started the slow walk to Forbidden Mountain. At a glance it looked like a several hour journey. However, if the trip with Kamiko was any indication, reaching the mountain would take no more than half an hour.

"He he!"

While I had been lost in thought the kid had zoomed in front of me. He smiled wide as though he had an incredible secret he was dying to share.

I frowned. "This better be good, brat," I warned.

The kid bounced from side-to-side excitedly. "You know, if the black bug has Female-mask, he will want to take her to someone who can help him control her."

That made me stop. I looked at the kid with renewed interest.

The child Ranma nodded twice. "Yep, yep. Black bug is weak. He can't do anything with Female-mask on his own. But, if he does get help, then he'll be able to combine with her." The kid suddenly brightened. "Hey! Isn't that exciting? We might get a new girl. So soon after Doll-chan too!"

"Really," I said slowly. I couldn't stop the grimace that grew at the mention of Doll. "So tell me, brat, who all can give 'black bug' help?"

"Hmm," the kid hummed, wobbling his head left and right, his whole body swaying with the motion. "Martial Arts could do it. But black bug doesn't think girls should fight, so Martial Arts would definitely say no. Tomboy hates black bug. She'd never help. Victory could do it, too, but Victory and black bug don't understand each other, so I don't think black bug would even try."

The kid began to swing his arms in wide circles as he continued. "Ego, yeah, he'd do it! Ego will do anything if he thinks it'll make us more awesome. Oh, and Doll-chan too! She'd definitely do it, though, I think Doll-chan would steal Female-mask rather than help black bug.

"Hey! I could do it too! What do you think? Would that be fun? Hmm... Nah! Black bug is boring. Girls do this. Girls do that. I don't like rules. Rules are silly. I don't think there should be any rules."

So, according to the brat, in order to control Female-mask Chauvinist had to seek out Ego or Doll. Ego, in my mind, was a long shot. I doubted _I_ would ever see life as a housewife as awesome. Toss in Kamiko and Tomboy, both of who had been hanging around town, and there was only one place left Chauvinist could go. Doll.

A sick expression crossed my face. Like hell I would let that black suited bastard take Female-mask to _her_. Even Kamiko was better than that.

"Where is Doll?"

The brat pointed at the crystal spire. The geometric structure jutted out of the marsh, glittering with refracted sunlight. I grimaced. The mountain and the spire, while roughly in the same direction, where enough offset that I would be wasting precious time.

"Nobody likes Doll-chan," the boy explained. "So she couldn't stay in the village. That's why she lives next to the crystal, instead."

Doll was an exile, huh? Good, I thought viciously. As far as I was concerned, that _thing_ was a tumor. Hearing that the rest of my psyche agreed warmed my heart.

"Thanks again, brat," I said.

With that, I adjusted my angle and began the long trudge to the crystal spire. Again, I made it only a handful of steps before the kid was standing in my path.

"He he!" The kid's smile was just as bright as before.

I let out a sigh. "What is it this time, brat?"

"If you are going to the spire, I can help. I know all the shortcuts!"

"Is that so?"

I looked at the kid suspiciously. I didn't have time to play games. But, if the kid was right, I couldn't afford to ignore him.

"Yep, yep. I was here first, so I know everything there is to know about this world," the boy said wisely. He gave a sharp look. "And I am Wanderer, not brat."

I returned a smirk. "A brat is a brat, no matter what he says. Now lead on."

Wanderer's face split into another brilliant smile and the kid dashed forward. He ran in a zigzag manner, twisting, turning, and looking back at me as he moved.

"This way, this way," Wanderer called out as he rushed ahead. The kid spread his arms as he ran and he started swaying from side to side, his body banking with the motions. "Neaarro-"

Wanderer froze in mid-step. He turned back and gave me dark look. "You have to do it too!"

I snorted. "Just show me the path, brat. I don't feel like playing right now."

Wanderer's eyes narrowed into a glare. He spoke slowly, as though talking to someone incomprehensibly stupid. "I'm not playing. This is how it works."

I scowled. "Fine." I spread my arms. "You happy now?"

"Sounds too!" Wanderer chirped, his dark visage transforming into a thousand watt glow. The kid dashed forward. "Neaarrowwoom!"

"Neaarrowwoom," I echoed half heartedly.

Feeling like an idiot, I trudged behind Wanderer. I did my best to smother the embarrassment. It's all in your head, Ranma. Nobody can see you acting like a fool... well... except Kamiko. But if she was hanging around, I had better things to worry about than how stupid I looked.

I carried on like that for a dozen steps. After that I no longer had the brainpower to care.

When did it happen? After the tenth step or the twentieth? All I knew was that one moment I was miserably chasing after Wanderer. The next I was sailing through skies.

My eyes watered and I tried to make sense of what had happened. My arms were rigid boards channeling wind beneath them. In my gut was an engine, its pistons hammering in and out. A propeller span at the tip of my nose, a transparent blur that darkened my vision.

I had become an airplane.

Stunned, I yawed to the left and began to plunge. Desperately, I struggled to right myself. I wobbled back and forth fighting to restore my stability.

While I strained to fly straight Wanderer delighted in aerial acrobatics. He dived. He span. He flew upside down. With crazed and joyful movements, he fluttered about the sky. I followed as best as I could, dark swamp blurring by beneath me. Then, when I had just barely gotten the hang of my movements, Wanderer twisted in midair and pointed his nose at the ground.

In an instant I overflew his path. It was only then I realized that _down_ was the next direction. Gritting my teeth against the insanity I banked hard and followed. Wispy clouds shot by and thick jungle expanded and a frightening rate. Clamping down on instinct I continued my dive, duplicating the brat's kamikaze drop.

It won't kill you. It's all in your head.

I gulped and closed my eyes.

_Thump._

Airplane Ranma ceased, and I was human once more. My butt hit soft earth after a gentle one meter drop. Dizzily, I looked around, my mind fighting to make sense of the sudden loss of inertia. Whew! Not dead. I broke out into a grin and laughed.

"Wow. Gotta hand it to you brat. That was cool. Now, if only I could do that in real life," I said while pulling myself to a sitting position.

_Splash!_ _Splash splash splash_. Wanderer stood in a shallow pond. With childish glee the brat jumped and stomped sending out waves of swamp water. He, no _she_ was soaked. The boy had become a girl. Wanderer had my curse.

Wanderer's bright smile wasn't dimmed by her transformation. She danced with the same unrestrained delight. The kid gave me a goofy smile that turned sly. Dipping down she scoped up a handful of water and flung it in my direction. I didn't even dignify the brat's game by dodging. I just gave her an irritated look.

"Having fun?" I asked, sweeping excess swamp water from my hair. A girl. Again. Damn it. Couldn't I have a couple of hours of manly peace?

"Yep!" Wanderer said happily, then she hopped out of water and shook herself like a dog. "Quick, quick. Follow me!"

With a grunt, I jumped to my feet and jogged after the excited kid. Wanderer followed a wild route that dragged me over a rotten log and through grassy paths surrounded by water. The winding movements lasted for mere seconds before we burst into a sea of flowers.

It was there, shrouded in a shower of brilliant petals, that Wanderer paused briefly to let me catch up.

"Isn't this fun! We're running down a road only girls can travel. Zoom!"

She was off again, racing amongst the floral display. I sprinted after, crisscrossing through an the infinite fog. Then, just as suddenly, we were free. The garden gave way to a crystal glade. Quartz plants sprouted mineral leaves as sharp as swords. Sandy dirt glistened with glassy sparkles. The light that filtered through the crystal trees was cast in rainbow hues, dominated by shades of pink and violet.

At the center of the glade was a magnificent spire of diamond. It jetted up from the ground, a single geometric prism that pierced the clouds. It was a dual colored structure. Colorless white surrounded the whole and made up the bulk of the mass, but at the crystal's heart that changed. There, deep within, was sharp line that divided clear from pink.

The greater crystal had formed around the smaller.

Imprisoned within that pink heart lay a sleeping girl. I recognized the form. Twin, glittery pigtails that reached the her hips. A girlish dress of frills, bows, and ruffles. A short skirt that bordered on indecent. Tall heels.

My magical girl form. It was the same, yet different. The pink dress was embroidered with black. The fluffy ribbons, threads, and streamers were longer and more abundant. It was darker, and more adult. Sweet-lolita straddled the realms of classic and gothic.

"She will rule this world."

The voice was sweet, soft, and feminine. To me, it felt as though someone had shoved slivers of shattered glass into my ears. A sickening, repugnant hatred oozed through me. A resonant feeling born not from logic, but raw rejection.

I turned to face Doll.

The vile shade wore my form: a pretty, cherubic Ranma-chan. Every feature rung wrong in my eyes. The way her red hair fountained down her back, touching her calves. Her long lashes and her glossy pink lips. The silky choker that circled her neck. The white ball gown with its pink bows and ribbons.

The crystal princess, frozen in the heart of the spire, was not a scrap less feminine than the creature before me, but the _hatred_ evoked was phenomenally different. Doll was not _me_. She was an invader. A fake. A disease to be eradicated. The sight of her called forth murderous instinct. I wanted to take a knife and plunge it into her porcelain skin until she was a bloody, oozing, corpse.

Yet she remained. A corrupting taint surrounded her with a subtle allure. Even as I was repelled, a tiny portion of me was drawn in.

I wanted to vomit.

"I did not expect to see you here, Ranma-sama. But I hope to be a pleasant host," Doll said in her soft voice. She fell into a deep and graceful curtsy.

"I'm not here to talk to you," I growled. I was squeezing Denial's jar so hard I was surprised it didn't burst.

Forcefully, I jerked my gaze from the abomination. No Female-mask. No Chauvinist. Damn. This was a waste of time.

Doll didn't lose her demure smile. "Be that as it may, now that you are here would you allow me to serve you? Whatever your pleasure, I will be glad provide it."

My lips curled in disgust. "How about you kill yourself? That'd make me happy."

"Hey! Don't be mean to Doll-chan," Wanderer broke in.

The little kid dropped from the spire that she had been trying to slink up. With a dash, Wanderer was between us. The energetic kid managed to stand still for all of one second before she was running figure eights around Doll and I.

"Don't be mean to her?" My voice was a low rumble. Fury caused me to shake. "That _thing_ is not part of us. It is a fake put here by Shizue. She shouldn't exist."

"Please, do not turn away from me, Ranma-sama," Doll appealed softly. "You know in your heart that I am the only one who can give you happiness."

I ripped my eyes away from Doll, fighting the urge to bash in her face. "I'm not talking to you," I spat.

When I turned away, Wanderer jumped forward. "Hey, hey, make me pretty!"

I jerked, every muscle contracting as though I had been hit by lighting. I stared at the redheaded child.

"Of course, Wanderer-sama," Doll said politely.

Doll waved a gloved hand. Magical sparkles sprang forth, settling on Wanderer. In a flash, her rice hat and simple clothes were replaced by a black dress with pink ribbons.

"Weee!" Wanderer squealed. She span in insane circles, her dress spiraling up. "Look, look! I'm a pretty girl dancing!"

"Don't indulge that _thing_," I snapped.

Wanderer stopped her spin and broke into hyper-speed skips in erratic directions. She was moving so fast that I went cross-eyed trying to track which afterimage belonged to the real thing.

"You're being silly," Wanderer reprimanded. "If you don't eat at least three bites, how do you know if it's tasty?"

What? Try being a doll? A toy? An object that existed to please others? Those words were incomprehensible. No. Wanderer was a brat. She didn't mean it. She didn't understand what she had said. She couldn't have. No part of _me_ would ever suggest that I try being Doll.

Yet, how could Wanderer _not_ have understood? Wanderer was me. I was Wanderer. I understood, therefore Wanderer understood. Even if that logic didn't hold, I could feel the truth in the way Wanderer stared at me, into me, through me. Her eyes were knives that slashed open my soul. She judged me, a divine being that could not be denied.

But my will was firm. I would not be crushed by that gaze.

"Doll is poison," I declared.

But Wanderer was no longer paying attention. Instead, she had jetted over to a crystal plant and ripped it out by the roots. Holding foliage in both hands, Wanderer squatted down and slowly, stiffly stretched out her arms as though lifting the entire world.

"Look, look," she said, gleefully. "I'm a tree growing!"

"Wanderer-sama. Little girls shouldn't get their clothes dirty," Doll said gently.

"Eh?" Wanderer questioned. The redheaded girl's bright eyes were big and confused. "But getting dirty is fun! Everybody should be dirty. Dirt for everyone!"

What Wanderer demanded, heaven delivered. From blue sky came a rain of mud – a drenching torrent of wet, watery ooze. Thin rivulets of foul liquid ran off my skin and coated my clothes. Carefully, I sheltered my eyes while wrinkling my nose at the mess.

Where I was indifferent, Wanderer and Doll were at opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. Doll cringed from the raining mud, holding her arms up in a useless attempt to shield her body. Her white dress was stained with brown and black. Liquid sludge soaked in, fouling multiple layers and filling lacy gaps.

"Please stop, Wanderer-sama," Doll begged.

Wanderer wasn't listening. Happy as a pig, she rolled in the deepest puddle she could find. The black dress Doll had given her was ruined. Filthy water drained from it in curtains. But that was not enough to leave Wanderer content. She rolled and rolled, until her dress was supersaturated. Then she jumped, hopped, and span, shedding dirty water everywhere.

"Look, look, I'm a mud princess!" Wanderer exclaimed gleefully.

Wanderer's crazed delight shed a warmth I could not escape. I found myself chuckling at the sight.

"Hey, brat, Female-mask isn't here. Can you get me to Forbidden Mountain?" I asked.

Wanderer stopped frolicking in the mud and bounded toward me taking care to stomp every puddle. She grabbed my hand with her tiny fingers and began to run around me in clockwise circles. I turned with her spin, mostly so she didn't rip off my arm.

"Weeeee!" Wanderer exclaimed, not stopping her endless dash.

I let out a sigh and recalled the airplane silliness. Swallowing my pride, I joined Wanderer's run. Each of us circled the invisible pivot where our hands joined. It was after a minute that I started to suspect I was being tricked.

"We're not going anywhere, are we?" I grumbled.

"Nope! But this is fun, fun, fun!" Wanderer replied happily. She ran a few more circles then suddenly dashed off into the woods. "Follow me!"

I groaned and followed. The crystal glade vanished into to swamp. Wanderer wove through the thick vegetation with boundless energy. Every obstacle was a game. Vines existed to be swung upon. Tufts of grass poked out of the water inviting little feet to dance across their top. I trudged after the girl, straining to keep up even though my path was arrow straight compared to Wanderer's meandering.

All the while Forbidden Mountain drew further and further away.

Wanderer stopped. The girl peered into a small, placid pond that reflected her face with a mirror's sheen.

"You are taking me to Forbidden Mountain, right?" I asked.

Silence.

"If you aren't going to answer, I'll start finding my own way," I warned.

Wanderer didn't reply, instead she dropped to all fours and shoved her head into murky, algae covered water. A stream of bubbles rolled up and around her cheeks, popping at the the surface. When Wanderer's lungs emptied she pulled out and took a huge breath. Dark water filled with green glops streamed down Wanderer's back cleansing a fraction of the mud caked into her black dress.

Chest filled to capacity, Wanderer shoved her head into the water again. _Bubble bubble bubble._

Wanderer came up for another breath. She peered back at me. "Come, come. You do it too!"

I squeezed my eyes shut. Okay, one more game brat and that's it. I shot Wanderer a glare and seated myself beside her. Taking a small breath I plunged my head into the pond and breathed out. The deep thud of air and water rang in my ears. _Bubble bubble._

I pulled out and brushed my hair from my eyes. "We good now, brat? Because I need to get to Forbidden Mountain. The faster the better."

"Bubble bubble. Bubble bubble bubble!" Wanderer shouted while jittering to a crazed dance.

I scowled, stood, and stopped. _Bloop bloop. _ _Bubble bubble bloop!_ The once placid pond began to thrash, huge bubbles rose to the surface displacing water. Moisture tickled my nose. Steam. The fine mist formed over the pond's top, and the radiant heat wrapped me in a blanket.

_Bloosh. Bubble. Blasph._ The thrashing increased. Bubbles became fountains that threw scalding droplets.

_Ker-Splash!_ Wanderer canon-balled into the hot spring unleashing an explosion. A wave hot water splattered over me shifting me from female to male. Impatiently I waited. Wanderer didn't come up. Don't tell me... Damn. Couldn't the brat take a second to _explain_ these things. My eye twitched in annoyance.

"This _better_ take me to Forbidden Mountain or I walk the rest of the way," I muttered to myself.

With a wild leap, I plunged into the pond.

The spring should have been shallow. Instead, I sank at least two meters deep. Then I sank some more. A powerful current seized me dragging me down. The faint light filtering from the surface faded leaving me in a pitch black sea.

Deeper and deeper. My lungs hurt. My body demanded breath. Desperate need verged on panic. I clamped down on instinct, but the pain grew ever greater.

_Whhppsshh!_

Like a bullet bursting from the barrel of a gun, I shot out of the darkness and into the sky. I tumbled inelegantly as I flew, drinking great gulps of air with each breath.

Then, at the last second, I twisted and landed on my feet.

The geyser behind me sputtered out a few more sprays of water then died. I took in the rocky terrain around me. Forbidden Mountain. I stood at the foot of the mountain's black cliffs. Sheer, unscalable rock stretched up for an eternity. A narrow stretch of stairs wound their way across the cliff face, the only path to the mountain's invisible summit.

Thick clouds and darkness wrapped the mountain. The stones themselves radiated gloom and dreariness. The rock was barren. The only life that peaked through the soil were squat, black trees. None bore a single leaf, and the only touch of color they wore was the white ropes tied around their trunks.

I squeezed Denial's jar with my left hand and reminded myself of my burden.

"Thanks, brat," I said nodding to the kid.

Wanderer peered up at the mountain's shrouded summit, swaying side to side. The hot water of the geyser had restored the child's boyhood. At the same time it had erased the dress Doll had given, replacing it with a wide, conical rice hat and loose, dusty clothes.

I set a hand on the kid's shoulder. "I'm headed up."

I stepped forward then scrambled back. It was dark. Too dark. I had been wrong. Wanderer was not staring at the mountain's summit, but at the black, roiling clouds that blotted out the sun.

Nightmare.

My breath stopped. _Fear._ As though summoned by my awareness golden, slitted eyes turned to face me.

The demon yowled.

The cry echoed off the mountain and chilled my soul. Distance negated Nightmare's power. Instead of freezing me in place, the yowl set me into motion. With all my strength, I lunged. Muscles constricted, straining ligaments until it felt like they would snap. One meter. Two. I accelerated forward. Forbidden Mountain was safety. I knew it in the marrow of my bones. This was _my_ place. Only _I_ could enter there. Not Kamiko. Not Nightmare. Not even Wanderer.

With one last leap, I tore forward.

Nightmare was faster.

The demon was a shadow fleeing light. In a single instant it bridged the gap between heaven and earth. Vorpal claws lashed out, batting me to the ground. Searing pain screamed from my back dwarfed by the spikes of raw terror that stabbed into my soul.

I hit the ground and rolled. Somehow, my eyes remained fixated on the stairs the whole time. A few more steps. I could make it. I leapt to my feet.

But Nightmare barred my path. The titan did not run or jump, it merely dissolved into a dark cloud and reappeared to bar my way.

I stumbled back a dozen steps, fleeing the demon's slitted eyes.

"That's enough, Saotome-chan. Hand over the bottle. You have lost," Kamiko said from her mount.

I tore my eyes from Nightmare and found Kamiko. I grimaced. She was right. Nightmare was unassailable and the only entrance to the mountain blocked off.

I ground my teeth and squeezed Denial's bottle. No. I would not give up. It didn't matter how invincible my opponent was. It didn't matter how many times I was slapped down. I would fight to the bitter end.

With strengthened resolve, I glared up at Kamiko, while easing myself between Nightmare and Wanderer.

"No," I said with finality.

"This is pointless, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said. "You cannot bypass Nightmare."

"Yeah, maybe so, but you can't stick around here forever either. Female-mask and Chauvinist are still out there. And who knows, I might just find another way to put Denial out of your reach."

The woman climbed down from her perch, using the jagged, glowing bolts riveted into Nightmare's back like a ladder. She approached, her hazel eyes bearing mild disapproval.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Saotome-chan, but I have already contacted Female-mask and Chauvinist. Though, it would be more correct to say they contacted me. They are waiting in the wasteland as we speak. All that remains is for me to collect the last of the set. It is over."

Shit. I had made a mistake. It wasn't just Ego and Doll that could satisfy Chauvinist's desires. Kamiko could do the same. I hadn't thought of that. No. I had automatically dismissed it. The idea that a genuine part of myself would betray me hadn't crossed my mind.

It was an ugly, slimy feeling, to realize that a part of myself had thrown its lot with the Pretty Princess Institute.

Kamiko's sharp eyes softened. "It isn't anything special, Saotome-chan. The human mind is filled with conflict and contradiction. Life is unkind. It forces us to choose one dream over another. Aspects that have been left behind will do anything to find release. Even Wanderer-san, a cornerstone of your personality, would betray you if offered the right incentives."

"Yep!" Wanderer declared proudly. He looked up at us with a wide smile, even while he added an additional rock to the growing pyramid in front of him.

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" I said with a scowl.

"Saotome-chan, I know you are not good at accepting defeat. But please do not press me further. I have wasted enough time with this game. Hand me the bottle, Saotome-chan. Now."

I held the jar in my left hand so tight that my knuckles went white. Shit. Shit. Shit. I needed something. Anything. Where was that arrogant jerk, Victory?

Nothing. There was nothing, damn it. Kamiko was right. There was no way I was getting past Nightmare. She had won, fair and square.

Yet, it was impossible for me to give in.

"No," I growled again.

Kamiko's eyes narrowed. "I won't tolerate dawdling, Saotome-chan. You had your chance and I have indulged you more than enough. Hand me the bottle. Immediately. If you do not, I will start assigning one-hour sessions with Shizue. The first one starts in: Ten... nine... eight...-"

"He he!" Wanderer interrupted.

The bright eyed boy bounced in between us then grinned up at Kamiko.

Kamiko's eyes were suddenly wary. "Is there something you want, Wanderer-san?"

Wanderer bounced from foot to foot. "I was thinking we should solve this with Rock-paper-scissors!"

My eyes flashed to Wanderer. "And why should she get anything of ours?"

"You agreed to the rules, Saotome-chan," Kamiko replied.

"Under duress," I shot back. "Besides, I haven't lost yet. Denial isn't yours unless you get him to the wasteland, remember?"

"I have already made myself quite clear on this-"

"STOP!" Wanderer's shout echoed off the rocky mountain side. "Rock-paper-scissors, and that's final!"

Kamiko's expression became haggard, and she let out a long sigh. "It seems I have no choice." Kamiko's eyes switched to me. "Unless you object, Saotome-chan?"

I glanced at the bottle then Nightmare. Fifty-fifty was an improvement. "Go for it, brat."

"Yeah!" Wanderer squealed happily.

The brat danced happily for a few seconds then lifted an arm up high. Kamiko reluctantly raised her own. Both hands moved up and down three times. Scissors versus Paper.

"I win!" Wanderer declared gleefully. He pointed at the woman. "And that means you're EJECTED!"

The world jerked. Trees and mountains went askew. Surface and sky were rent by great gaps of static. Sound, taste, smell, and touch fired off erratically. Then, just as suddenly, the world jerked back.

I swayed dizzily at the front of the mountain. Wanderer stood proudly in front of me, his hands on his hips and his chest puffed out, as though he'd just done something amazing.

As for Kamiko and Nightmare? They were gone.

"Uh..., thanks I guess," I said, my mind still trying to grasp what had happened.

Grim faced, I looked at the mountain, the weight of my burden nestled in my left hand. There was no telling how long Kamiko would be gone. Chauvinist and Female-mask were all but hers. The probability I would get them back was slim to none.

But not zero.

Thoughtlessly, I patted the kid on the head and ruffled his hair. "I've gotta go, brat. Take care."

I took a step forward only to find my path blocked by a stern faced Wanderer.

I gave the brat a tired look. "Can you make it quick? I don't want to sound ungrateful here, but I'm on the clock right now."

"Yep, yep. If you don't hurry, Kamiko-chan will get you," Wanderer agreed with a sing-song voice. "But first, I have to tell you a secret."

I squeezed my eyes closed. "Well? Spit it out."

Wanderer gave me an indignant look and placed his hands on his hips. "You have to lean closer first."

With a sigh, I lowered myself to my knees. "This enough?"

Wanderer's smile returned, then, before I could react, he shoved his thumbs into my mouth. With a tug he stretched the corners up and to the sides in a parody of a smile.

"Be happy, okay?" he said. "Frowns don't make anything better."

I jerked my head away. Standing, I shot the brat a furious glare. "In case you haven't noticed, I haven't had much to happy about."

Wanderer cocked his head to the side. "Eh? Of course there is!" Wanderer lectured while waving a finger in a tut-tut manner. "No matter what, there are always more fun things to do than time to do them."

"It isn't that simple, brat." I shook my head. "Life isn't just fun and games. People have to do things they don't want to do, and sometimes... sometimes you're just screwed." I sighed. Was the kid even capable of understanding? "Tell you what. When I get out of the Institute, I'll find something to smile about. Okay?"

Wanderer looked up at me with bright blue eyes. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise," I replied. I ruffled the boy's hair.

"And..., if you don't?"

I sighed. "No promises there brat. Though, if I'm stuck here, I'm pretty sure that Kamiko will find a way to force me to be happy." I shook my head. "I don't want to think about that. We good now?"

Wanderer's smile returned. "Yep! I'm going to go explore the Jusenkyo Swamps! Wee!" Wanderer shouted as he tore down a random path at break neck speed. "Playing the gate controls is so much fun!"

A faint smile tickled my lips as the kid disappeared. It would be easier to be like him – pure childish glee that ignored the weight of reality.

But I couldn't become a kid again. Nobody could.

Grim determination restored, I turned back to the mountain.

The climb was long. Stairs stretched up for extended lengths, passing under dozens of torri before turning sharply. As I ascended, the mountain grew darker. Black shadow washed over me. Stone lamps provided ghostly illumination.

The journey must have lasted mere minutes. It felt like hours. The air was heavy and drenched in despair. Every step was plodding, and each breath scorched my lungs.

Finally, I reached the summit.

The mountain's peak was cast in twilight. The pale glow filtered down through the bare, black branches that sheltered the tiny grove. A single ray of light pierced the gloom to fall upon a lone sword thrust into an obsidian altar.

I shivered. The silvery blade gleamed with a brightness the cut through the shadowed glade. It offered a cursed beauty. Thin fog poured off it, seeping down the stone, seething through the grass, and curling around my feet. The grove was drenched in it. Sakki. Blind rage. Unbound hatred. Cruelty without remorse.

Sealed.

Sealed by stone. Sealed by charm-laden ropes. Sealed by the mountain itself.

As it should be.

"If thou hast come for the blade with such weak resolve, I shall remove ye."

An angel, no taller than my forearm, floated a half meter above the sword's pommel. It met my gaze, its eyes reflecting unbreakable strength.

"I'm not here for the sword," I replied. "All I want is a place to store this safely."

I displayed Denial's jar.

The Angel pondered then gave a grave nod. "If thou wishest, thou may bequeath thy burden upon the altar. But I warn ye. Shallow Denial will break when placed before death and conviction. If it is thy intent to preserve that being's existence, then thou must cede to it greater claim of thyself. If not, it shall surely perish."

I closed my eyes then looked into Denial's jar. The little red Ranma quivered in terror.

Should I do it? Cede more of myself to Denial? In a way, it was tempting. By strengthening Denial I spat in Kamiko's face. But was that what _I_ wanted? To wind back the clock to the first days after Jusenkyo?

No.

I didn't need Denial. When I had last gazed across the pools of sorrow, the truth had sunk in. Whether male or female, I remained unchanged. Ranma Saotome was Ranma Saotome. Simple, yet profound. I didn't need to become someone different when I was female. I could stay exactly as I was.

Denial, and his brother Chauvinist, were mistakes.

With a clunk of finality, I placed Denial upon the altar.

"End of the road for you, buddy," I said quietly.

I gazed at the Angel and waited for his judgment.

He offered none. The Angel did not nod or shake his head. He did not gaze into me as though seeking answers. He merely closed his eyes and vanished.

_Tuh tuh tuh_.

Denial struck the jar with all his little strength, banging at the insides.

I turned my back and walked away.

I left Forbidden Mountain in a rush. It was a grim and slow run. Down the stairs and across the jungle. Kilometers blurred by. Distances in this dream-like realm obeyed no constant. The trip down the mountain lasted half as long as the trip to the wastelands, even though the areas covered were vastly different.

But, for all that unreal speed, I was far too late.

Kamiko waited amongst the jagged steel pillars, her hawk-like eyes tracking my approach. Female-mask stood beside her, blue eyes dull and lacking life. On top of Female-mask's head rode Chauvinist. The black clothed Ranma stood tall and gave me a smug look.

"I am glad you came here on your own, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said, "If you had forced me to find you, I would have assigned a session with Shizue."

"I never had a shot of taking them back, did I?"

"No, you didn't," Kamiko answered. "It takes less than a minute to re-enter the system."

So that was it. From the moment Chauvinist had betrayed me, I had missed the chance to keep them out of Kamiko's hands. I grimaced. Knowing my failure had been written in stone didn't make it any less painful.

"Hurry up and give Kamiko-sensei permission," Chauvinist snapped. "That way I can get to work and start making us act like a girl is supposed to."

My eyes shot to the creature. "And why would I help a traitorous shit like you?"

"Because of the terms you agreed to, I do not require your explicit approval on this matter, Saotome-chan," Kamiko asserted. "However, I will demand it anyway. This is for your sake. Direct acceptance reduces the risks associated with adjustment. But I will not brook argument on this matter, Saotome-chan. Refuse and I will be forced to assign punishments."

I flicked my eyes from Chauvinist to Kamiko and scowled. Frankly, I didn't care about Chauvinist at this point. If he weren't part of my mind, I would have gladly offered the traitor to Kamiko.

"Your permission, please," Kamiko pressed.

My scowl deepened and my guts tied themselves into knots. Permission. Kamiko was asking the impossible. Giving Kamiko permission was the same as saying: 'I have lost'. Even if it was true, I didn't want to acknowledge it.

But fighting like this was foolish. In the first week I had remained stubborn and strong when I should have been flexible and clever. Making a stand felt good but ended badly. Endure. A chance will present itself.

It sounded like a lie. An excuse to lay down and surrender.

It was the only hope I had left.

"Do what you want."

"Thank you, Saotome-chan," Kamiko replied.

Chauvinist grinned wide. "Finally! Give me- _arggh!_"

A jagged spear of plasma fell from heaven. An ethereal blade of steel that sliced Chauvinist in two. The pieces fell apart even as burning light coalesced on a discarded fragment. The piece untouched reformed anew into Chauvinist, half his prior size. Charred flesh and burnt clothing flaked off the furious Ranma as he glared at Kamiko.

"What did you do to me?" he demanded.

Like a phoenix from fire, a new Ranma was born from the other fragment. Where Chauvinist was male, she was female. Crimson hair, half tied back in a pair of pony tails, the rest left free, fell to the small of the girl's back. She wore a school uniform, complete with thigh-high socks and patent leather shoes.

Chauvinist's eyes switched over to the school girl. He fixed her with a gaze of suspicion even as she examined herself from every angle.

"Who are you?"

The girl tapped a finger on her lips. "Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. The ideal woman, I think."

Chauvinist folded his arms across his chest and glared at the girl. "Girls should wear skirts, girls should use makeup, girls should dress properly," he challenged.

The school girl huffed. "How antiquated. Girl's are free to do as they wish. Of course I, as an idol every girl looks up to, would never step outside looking less than beautiful. But it is hardly fair to hold everyone to my standards."

Chauvinist glowered. "Girls shouldn't be violent. Girls should cook and clean for their family. Girls should get married and devote themselves to their husband."

The school girl's gaze turned sharp and she adopted a lecture pose. "Now listen here. While there is nothing wrong with being a housewife, this is the modern era. Don't be shoving your stuffy morals onto other people. Girls are free to chase whatever dream they desire. As for us, we should strive to be a shining example of female attainment! Nothing less than the best!" The girl's eyes went dark and she clenched a fist. "And if you disagree with that, I'll beat the crap out of you."

Chauvinist's face turned purple. Furiously, he whirled on Kamiko.

"What is this!" he screeched.

"An aspect representing an ideal woman," Kamiko answered. "She will be combined with Female-mask, causing Saotome-chan to act like a proper girl, just as you asked."

Kamiko stooped as she talked, placing an empty bottle against the cracked earth. Thin, writhing worms erupted from the dirt and slimed their way in to the container. Hideous whispers echoed out, barely a breath in strength.

"This isn't what you promised! You said you would give _me_ control."

"And I will. But before I do that I need to rearrange _what_ you are," Kamiko answered. "Into the bottle please."

Chauvinist cringed back. "No way!"

The black suited Ranma scampered away from Kamiko. He made it no more than three paces before Kamiko dragged him back with the motion of her free hand. Chauvinist's flight reversed and he began to slide back at an accelerating speed.

I couldn't help myself. I stepped forward and snatched Chauvinist out of the air.

"That's an extra session with Shizue, Saotome-chan," Kamiko snapped.

I jerked as though slapped. My grip loosened and Chauvinist slipped free. The black Ranma scaled my arm as though it were a mountain then slipped behind my shoulder. There he clung for dear life.

"You expect me to just sit here while you feed this little bastard to those?"

Kamiko's eyes held their narrow gaze. "Yes, Saotome-chan, that is exactly what I expect. My patience is at an end. You will return Chauvinist immediately, or I will assign additional sessions."

I reached back and tore Chauvinist from my shoulder. The little Ranma wiggled in my crushing grip. I scowled down at him. Then I stared at the school girl Kamiko had created. I hated to admit it, but she was better than the piece of scum squirming in my hand.

Chauvinist wasn't worth it.

Lips curled in disgust, I threw him at Kamiko.

Chauvinist flew in a low arch that skewed downward and into the bottle at the last second. The worms leapt up at him as he entered, grabbing onto skin and borrowing in. A tiny scream was cut off when Kamiko clamped down the lid but I could still see the worms as they swirled around in a writhing mass that devoured everything.

I shuddered.

"Thank you, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said. "If you continue to be cooperative, I will cancel your punishment."

I shot the woman a dark look. "I'm not doing this for you."

Kamiko unscrewed the lid of the bottle. Chauvinist was gone. All that was left was an even larger mass of worms. Hissing words escaped the container, louder than before.

_The Pretty Princess Institute is family. The senshi are my sisters. I love my sisters. I am so happy that I get to work with my sisters and make the world a better place._

"Is this really so terrible?" she asked.

I glared in answer.

Kamiko sighed. Quietly she dropped a large, clear crystal into the bottle. It dissolved and the worms with it. Left behind was a slimy, transparent liquid. Kamiko offered the bottle to the tiny school girl.

"Drink," she ordered.

The school girl's nose scrunched up in an expression of disgust that mirrored my own. Kamiko thrust the bottle again. The girl shied back. Then, tentatively, she approached. With nervous hands, she cupped the bottle's top and drank.

I nearly emptied my stomach seeing it happen.

The school girl gulped and gulped again. Each pull came faster. Initial reluctance transformed into eager need and the girl tilted the jar further in order to guzzle the contents.

As the liquid poured down the girl's throat she changed. Her body swelled in size, surpassing Chauvinist's initial scale. Her red hair softened into glittering pink. Her uniform burst into embellishing bows and ribbons. The simple glasses on her nose shifted slightly to become perfect replicas of Michiko's gift.

"Ah," the transformed school girl breathed out as she sucked down a throat full of air. She reached into the jar greedily and scooped out another dollop from the edge before licking her hand clean. "Thank you, Kamiko-senpai. That tasted wonderful."

"You are welcome," Kamiko said with a friendly smile. "But leave the rest, please."

Kamiko pulled the bottle away from the girl and set it upside down on the ground. The thin trails of slime coating the jar fell to the earth in a rain of worms.

"Oh! I know who I am now!" The school girl's eyes brightened and she span with delight. "I'm Senshi, the perfect magical girl."

I shook my head in disgust. I didn't want to see anymore of this, so I wandered off toward the wasteland.

"Where do you think you are going, Saotome-chan?" Kamiko demanded.

I looked back and met Kamiko's sharp gaze. "You don't need me here, and if I keep watching I won't be able to stop myself from interfering. So, I'm leaving. Got a problem with that?"

Kamiko's gaze softened. "No. But please do not wander far. I'll be finished here soon." She turned away. "Senshi, would you please settle atop of Female-mask. I will join the two of you."

I didn't turn back. I stepped out into the cracked wasteland and stared up at the shadowy summit of Forbidden Mountain.

My first adjustment was complete.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia**

_**Dive Chamber**_ – A not at all subtle Ar Tonelico reference.

_**Torri**_ – A Japanese gate frequently seen in front of shinto shrines.

**Characters**

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

_**Dr. Kamiko Ogura** (XT-02) [PPI, Serenity]_ – A psychiatrist magical girl (woman). Her ability is 'neural remap', which causes the nervous system to rewire itself in response to supernatural conditioning. When used directly Kamiko's abilities cause neural degeneration which becomes exponentially worse the greater the cumulative effect.

In order to reduce this side effect, and to allow for greater control, Kamiko utilizes her power almost exclusively through a series of technological tools invented by Michiko. The tiara's are the most common example, though each tiara functions as a discrete magical item. The adjustment process is another example and is completely reliant on Kamiko.

Kamiko's primary duty is the re-education of newly recruited girls. She personally evaluates each girl's psychology and recommends treatment to 'correct' their manner of thinking. Kamiko, however has been unable to keep up with the flood of girls that have been recruited in recent years. As such, she fast tracks important girls into adjustment while allowing lower priority girls to languish.

Kamiko's defense form, serenity, acts by causing individuals to completely fail to make any aggressive actions toward her. The nature of Kamiko's power and her megami no ooi renders Kamiko completely incapable of direct combat.

_**Shizue Handa** (XT-07) [PPI, Illusion] – _Shizue is experiment XT-07, and her tenki was engineered to produce mind altering effects. Her magic is 'dollification', a power that permanently alters the personality of the target so that the target begins to regard herself as an object that exists only to serve others. In the PPI, only five girls have undergone full dollification. However, it is common to use partial dollification to break down resistant girls or to add 'desirable traits' prior to adjustment.

Shizue is a relatively weak magical girl, well under Kuno. As such, her dollification could be easily resisted by Ranma, if Ranma were fully in control of her spiritual aura.

**Psyche Characters**

Characters appearing in Ranma's virtual 'adjustment' world. These characters shouldn't be considered a complete or balanced representation of Ranma's psyche. He has _many_ other parts to his personality that are not shown.

_**Chauvinist **__[Psyche, Minor]_: The Ranma in black on Female-mask's shoulder. Chauvinist is the representation of Ranma's belief that girls should be behave like stereotypical girls, and most especially the belief that because of Ranma's curse, that rule applies to her.

_**Denial**__ [Psyche, Minor]_: The Ranma in red on Female-mask's shoulder. The aspect of Ranma's self that believes that Chauvinist's views don't apply to Ranma in female form, because even when transformed Ranma isn't really a girl. Denial is effectively a representation of Ranma's defense mechanism against his curse and his somewhat sexist views.

_**Female-mask**_ _[Psyche, Minor]_: A partially formed aspect of Ranma's psyche. Female-mask essentially represents how Ranma feels she should act while in cursed form. Since Ranma's feelings aren't yet well defined, and contradict what she really wants, Female-mask is essentially nothing more than a confused automaton being used by various aspects of Ranma's personality.

_**Masculinity**_ _[Psyche, Minor]_: Masculinity represents Ranma's male bravado. It is huge, strong, and full of hot air. Masculinity, despite any claims and denials Ranma would produce, is not a major part of Ranma's personality. Masculinity only shows up briefly, when used by Victory to help fight Nightmare.

_**Tomboy**_ _[Psyche, Major]_: Tomboy is the raw accumulation of the experiences Ranma enjoyed as a girl. Ironically, Tomboy is best described as simultaneous rejection of the feminine (cultural) and acceptance of the feminine (biological). In this sense, Tomboy cannot be said to be Ranma's feminine side, but rather an example of the type of girl Ranma would be most comfortable being.

Tomboy utterly despises Chauvinist, whose nature is in contradiction to hers. She isn't fond of Denial or Masculinity, either.

_**Ego**_ _[Psyche, Major]_: The toga wearing fellow being admired by the crowd. This is Ranma's prideful narcissistic self, the part of Ranma that likes to see all sorts of people looking up to him.

_**Victory **__[Psyche, Major]_: Ranma's drive to win, win, win. Victory wears a kendo outfit and behaves like Kuno. The Kuno-like representation is the result of Ranma's deep admiration for Kuno's ability to not give up, and Ranma's self-recognition that his desperate need to win often leads him to stupidity.

_**Lock**_ _[Psyche, Other]_: The angel on Forbidden Mountain. Lock, which actually includes the rope seals and the mountain itself, is Ranma's ethical beliefs. Lock binds Ranma from engaging in 'evil' actions. As such, Ranma (the will) is the only one allowed to reach Lock's domain.

_**The Sword**_ _[Psyche, Other]_: A representation of Ranma's capacity for destruction. This represents not only Ranma's willingness to attack with the intent to kill or destroy his enemies, but also his the latent urge to utilize raw, brutal force to resolve even normal daily conflicts. Ranma recognizes these feelings as 'evil' and thus the sword is sealed.

_**Nightmare**_ _[Psyche, Other]_: Nightmare is the neko-ken and Ranma's fear of cats. Nightmare is also Ranma's fear of death, and other less specifiable terrors. Nightmare is controlled by Kamiko via the tiara, due to earlier interference in Ranma's psyche by Kamiko (during the first few days while Ranma was unconscious). Nightmare is easily controlled by the tiara because it is fundamentally similar to the _agony_ the tiara produces.

_**Martial Arts**_ _[Psyche, Corner Stone]_: Ranma love and dedication to the martial arts. This is the Ranma wearing a dogi outside the huge ornate dojo.

_**Wanderer**__ [Psyche, Corner Stone]_: Wanderer is Ranma's wandering spirit. It is his desire to explore new things and to not be tied down by any rules or structures. Wanderer is super capricious by nature and jumps from entertaining idea to entertaining idea.

Wanderer appears as a child Ranma, generally wearing a rice hat and simple clothes.

_**Doll **__[Psyche, Manufactured]_: Doll is the female Ranma generated as the result of Ranma's repeated exposure to Shizue's dollification. Like all coerced tenki effects (Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon) her magically imposed existence fades to a degree with time.

Doll is a distorted aspect that cannot be considered natural in humans. It represents a completely submissive ideal that sees the most perfect notion of self and happiness as serving as an ornament and toy for other humans. Doll regards this not only as the most desirable state for Ranma, but the most desirable state for all women, and is thus Ranma's most sexist aspect, vastly more so than Chauvinist.

_**Crystal Princess **__[Psyche, Manufactured]_: Less a psyche aspect than the spiritual and mental impact of Ranma's tenki and Michiko's subsequent modifications. The Crystal Princess is Ranma's magical girl aspect and represents the forcefully imposed ideal contained in Ranma's tenki.

The crystal she is imprisoned in grows with spiritual crystallization. Eventually, if perfect tenki is reached, it will swallow all of Ranma's other personality aspects and transform their nature to mesh Ranma's megami no ooi.

_**The Worms **__[Psyche, Manufactured]_: A representation of Ranma's conditioning by Kamiko. The worms devour and infect vulnerable aspects and warp them to fit a person best described by the conditioning Kamiko provides. Given time, and a _lot_ of help via Kamiko's adjustments, they can infect and transform everything about Ranma.

_**Senshi **__[Psyche, Minor]_: The manufactured representation of an ideal woman as envisioned by Kamiko. Senshi is built from the broken and reassembled parts of Female-mask and Chauvinist. She wishes to be the proverbial 'perfect' magical girl / modern woman, which means perfect academics, perfect physical skills, and perfect social/leadership skills.

Senshi, by nature, identifies with the Institute and most especially her 'senpais'.


	8. Escape Clause

**Author's Forward –** Not much to say. If you have made it this far, you can make it the rest of the way.

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 8: Escape Clause**

-oOo-

Breathe in. Breathe out.

I reached up to ensure the rope was secure. Two hard tugs confirmed it. I stood, eyes closed, on my living room table. Nervous jitters played over me, doubts and fears threatening assault.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

There had to be a better way.

No. This was my only choice. Two days had vanished in the blink of an eye. A haze of hallucinations had pinned me to my bed. I could move now. I could think now. I could fight now.

But not tomorrow.

Tomorrow I would face Shizue Handa. The moment that woman stepped into my room the days would blur into nothing. Weeks would pass where I would fail to think or act. Pieces of myself would be chipped away until nothing remained but an empty shell cast in my visage. Adjustment and dollification. Alone, either of those forces could destroy me. Together, I hadn't the faintest chance.

The seconds of my life ticked by. The day of my subjugation drew near. Already, it was hard to remember why I was fighting. A senshi? That was a fate not so unpleasant. Some might have called it a gift. My enemies? Hard to tell from friends. Even Kamiko, who had drowned me in the cruelty of _agony_, could no longer be hated. Femininity? A curious terror. Cute clothes, jewels, and dresses, all had gained a glittery allure.

Slowly, but surely, I was slipping away.

One day I would wake to find Artemis's insanity made perfect sense. I couldn't let that happen. I had to end things now. I had to tear the tiara from my head.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

With that fixed in my mind, I stepped back and placed my right foot against the wall.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

With all my strength, I jumped.

The rope snapped still, and I came to a sudden halt. A jolt of force ran through my neck. Vertebrae expanded. Knives of pain pierced my spine. For an infinite instant I hung there, a meter above the floor.

Then I swung back.

_Agony_.

Molten metal poured over me, searing through flesh and boiling organs. Nerves screamed, raw pain, limitless and incomprehensible. It ate me alive.

And that was nothing compared to the horrors _agony _inflicted.

I died in fire, flood, and famine. Pestilence spread through my limbs. I vomited blood speckled with black. Then I hallucinated again, but worse. Akane, Ukyou, Kasumi, Mom and Pop roasted alive.

I must have swung for seconds. It felt like years. Finally, _agony_ broke. A momentary pause. A safety feature designed to spare the foolish.

I seized it like a drowning man.

My head swam. The room was a watery blur. Thoughts filtered by in fragments. Only the most primitive of concepts pierced the fog. _Move_. _Now_.

I lurched upward, my leaden limbs responding to my vacant will. I missed. I missed again. Panic grew. Darkness was descending. I thrashed about in desperation, reaching up again and again.

No. This wasn't what I wanted. I had to get down. Nothing else mattered. I had to-

_Thud!_

I hit the ground.

Ha. Ha ha ha. A mad laugh slipped through my lips, a giggle that grew into a drunken guffaw. I fell to my back, convulsing with crazed emotion.

Above, the bedsheet rope swayed, a twinkling tiara in its grasp.

It's not over yet, Ranma.

Laughter died. I sat up and stared at the hallway door. Someone would come. _Agony_ sent out a signal of sorts. A dose that strong would surely set off alarms. Girls would rush from the desk to verify my safety.

Be her, I prayed. Please, be her.

The door slammed open. Kamiko flew in.

Gotcha.

I didn't move. Assault was impossible. Kamiko's aura imposed upon this world an unbreakable serenity. Violent thought vanished in her presence. I could no more raise a fist against her than fly to the moon by pulling on my belt.

_Snap!_ _Whoosh_.

Fortunately, I didn't have to.

Wooden poles straightened. A rope jerked taut. Coiled sheets snapped tight around Kamiko's legs then ripped them from underneath her. She fell. Her shoulders hit the ground even as her body continued to accelerate. Kamiko flashed across a meter of rug before flying up into the air. There, within arm's reach of my tiara, she dangled.

Narrowed, hazel eyes glared at me. Kamiko's anger remained cool despite the impossible conditions. "Saotome-chan, I thought you beyond this childishness. Release me please, or I will be forced to punish you severely."

Tension drained away. The tiara was off. Kamiko was defeated.

I stood sluggishly. My limbs quaked with the aftereffects of _agony_. Quivering breath passed through my lungs. I smoothed my skirt, feeling numb and detached. I look up at Kamiko, my emotions too raw for arrogance.

"What can you do that you're not doing already?" I asked.

It was a bitter question with an answer I knew too well. Shizue. The Pretty Princess Institute had left me with two choices: doll or senshi. My preference was clear, but my inability to surrender had done more to define my fate than my desires.

"I will ask again. Release me now, Saotome-chan."

Somewhere within myself, I found the courage to meet her eyes.

"No."

"Very well." Kamiko's gaze flicked to the door. "Please cut me down, Emiko-chan."

Emiko. The magical knight stood in the doorway, her steel plated armor filling the frame. My tiara was gone, but the choker alone made her unassailable and unstoppable. She stepped forward, swift and agile despite the heavy mail weighing her down. A gauntleted hand gripped the hilt of her epee.

_Swish. _The thin, crystalline blade flashed. Kamiko hit the ground an instant later.

My heart died.

So that was it, then. A feeble fight lost before it began.

Strength faded and I fell to my knees. Defeat weighed on me like a mountain. Funny how losing hurt this much. I had expected this. I had not believed for a second that I would succeed. There had been too many obstacles and too many unknown. Still, it hurt. I wanted more. The last stand of Ranma Saotome should have ended in a massive display of fireworks, a battle for the ages fought between titanic foes.

But, just like that, it was over. Ended. Done.

My emotions were in turmoil. Fear made me tremble. I knew the punishment that would befall. Hate and self loathing tore me up. Why was I sitting here? Why was I bowing my head? Why didn't I stand, run, or fight? Tears bubbled in my eyes, the quiet sobs of a girl who understood there was nothing left to do.

But, more than anything, I felt relief. It was finally over. My fate was sealed. I didn't have to fight any more. I didn't have to pretend I was strong. No more pain. No more _agony_.

Just surrender.

While I sank inside myself, Kamiko pried her legs free from the bedsheet hoops. With stiff motions, she dragged herself to her feet. Emiko worked at her side. With a wave of her sword she cut my tiara free. Silently, she stepped behind Kamiko and to the right. There she stood, waiting for the next command.

Kamiko's sharp, hawk-like eyes speared me in my place.

"You realize, Saotome-chan that I must punish you for this. Attempted escape, assaulting a senshi, defying authority, I could be lenient when you first came here. You know better now."

I shuddered but held my place. With my head bowed, I awaited her judgment.

Kamiko's gaze remained hard for a long moment then, unexpectedly, her features softened. "I suppose, since nothing came of it, I can be a bit lax. Two hours with Shizue later today. But, Saotome-chan, never again."

Never again. I swallowed. Could I... Could I promise that? If I did, then maybe... maybe this would be the last time I faced Shizue.

"I-" I drew a deep, shuddering breath and yielded everything. "I understand, Kamiko-senpai."

"Good," Kamiko answered. She paused then spoke with great care. "Kohai, I know this is a difficult for you. I have been strict, to say the least. But, Akina and I aren't so different. You are a senshi. That makes you not just a comrade, but a sister. I hope that this moment marks a change in our relationship for the better."

I looked up and froze. Kamiko wore a fragile smile. Gone was her stony visage. Instead I saw a heart exposed.

A crack ran through my soul. Into that gap flowed hope. Hope that the Institute could be more than gloom and despair. Hope that I could find love and companionship while within these walls. If I had that, then being a senshi wouldn't be so bad. I could like it. I would like it. In time, I would learn to love it.

I met Kamiko's eyes and-

Time stopped. My heart failed to beat and my vision tunneled. Instead of looking at Kamiko I stared over her shoulder in petrified wonder.

Emiko. Behind Kamiko. Waiting for the next command.

... for _my_ command.

It couldn't be.

A tiny flame caught in the chilled hearth of my soul. No surge of strength followed. I was broken. The girl who had flung herself off the table was gone. That was the Ranma who fought. I was the Ranma who surrendered. There was nothing left for me but acceptance. I would be a senshi, knight of the Queen. A glorious path. My strength would be a source of admiration. My skills would be given true purpose. Comrades would stand at my side, sharing with me their love and happiness.

It was a fragile dream, easily destroyed. And for what? An illusion of escape? That path did not exist. I had been here for nearly a month. In that time, I had never seen a single opening.

My shoulders shook. My throat was squeezed so tight that I could hardly breath. My mouth was a desert granting no relief. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that I was being made to bow again and again. I shouldn't have to fight my own determination.

Why did Emiko have to be there, offering an apparition of choice?

"... senpai..."

The word slipped out, my voice so brittle I hardly recognized it as my own. Kamiko knelt next to me, her hazel eyes again inscrutable. She set a hand on my shoulder. It was cold. I twitched back, but then allowed the presence. It was both boon and bane, a stalwart offering of comfort that only amplified the distress pulling me apart.

"Please speak more clearly, Saotome-chan, or I won't understand."

_Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it._

"... the tiara...," I choked out.

"I'm sorry, Saotome-chan, but I can not allow you go without your restraining device. Not today. But, if you can keep a clean record over the next month, I will recommend that your probationary status be revoked."

I shook my head and wondered why I did so. Maybe the emotions were so strong and so blinding that there was no wall left to contain me. My mouth moved, my whole body quaking. Helplessly, I continued to dictate my command.

"... put it on... senpai...," I finished.

The reaction was instantaneous. With a single motion, Emiko stepped forward and slammed down the headdress. I sat in stunned witness, more shocked than Kamiko. Even though I have given the command, I could not believe it. I gazed upon the scene, unable to accept what my eyes told me.

Kamiko was wearing my tiara.

Kamiko's hand left my shoulder. Softly it probed the metal band attached to her forehead. She ran her fingers across the gleaming silver and embedded crystals. Her visage, at first, was as blank as mine. Then understanding settled in. Kamiko's delicate touch transformed into a solid grip. She pulled.

_Agony_.

I had rarely seen the effect on the face of another, but there was no mistaking what I had witnessed. Whether seen or felt, _agony _could not be forgotten. Kamiko's lips twisted in pain, her hazel eyes scrunched up, tears gathering. My guts curdled at the sight, the image burning its way into my brain.

Kamiko's strength crumbled and her body sagged. Despite that, she recovered before I did. My mind was caught in a fog, my thoughts paralyzed by disbelief.

"Emiko, remove this please," Kamiko ordered as she pulled herself to her feet.

"I am sorry, Ogura-sensei," Emiko answered politely. "But I am forbidden from removing the Institute's restraining devices."

"I recall," Kamiko said with a grimace. She closed her eyes and pinched her nose. "Emiko, please restrain Saotome-chan while I think."

Emiko turned to face me. Her green eyes met mine. I stared into the depths. Rusty gears began to turn. Thoughts moved, ideas formed, and life returned. _I can win_. That feeling was fuel. The ancient war machine called Ranma Saotome sputtered to life.

With a yank, Emiko dragged me from the ground. Surprisingly strong hands, shrouded in steel, dug into my wrists pinning them behind my back.

My first instinct was to tear my way free. Rationality cast that plan aside. Emiko had been waiting for my command. There could be no doubt. Her response had been too swift for anything else. She was on my side.

And, if I wanted to win, I would need to find a way to use her.

"Release me."

Emiko relaxed her grip. I stepped free and glanced back at her. The girl's hands spasmed, her fingers clenching and unclenching. She was caught between conflicting orders. The discomfort caused was clearly displayed on her face. Yet, through it all her gaze remained dauntless.

My eyes returned to Kamiko. The woman's lips were pursed into a frown. My mind did cartwheels, seeking a path to victory. If I ran Kamiko would raise the alarm. There would be no escaping the Institute if that happened. With the choker cutting off my flow of ki, even Lilac could overpower me.

What else could I do? I couldn't fight her. I couldn't stop her. I couldn't do anything to Kamiko.

But, maybe, Emiko could.

"Saotome-chan's authority is provisional. You may disregard her orders when they conflict with mine, Emiko," Kamiko injected.

Emiko's body relaxed, but her face became more distraught. She stepped closer, her hands reaching out. She was fighting. My impression was not wrong. I allowed the gentle grip. Instead of using force I scrounged for an argument.

"Uhm, wouldn't the authority of any restrained senshi be provisional?" I hazarded.

"Th-the rules pertaining to p-provisional authority are unclear, Saotome-sama," Emiko answered.

Emiko's hands fell away, telling me that 'unclear', as far as Emiko was concerned, favored me.

"That is hardly relevant," Kamiko shot back. "The rules may be ill defined, but they are quite clear that an order given by a provisional authority is subordinate to an order given by an actual authority."

"So? Again. Restrained. Whose to say whether your authority is not provisional?" I paused then added, "Actually, come to think of it, _I say_ your authority is provisional."

I glanced at Emiko to see if she accepted my words.

"I c-cannot confirm that, Saotome-sama," Emiko answered nervously. "No rules were created st-stating when a senshi's authority is or is n-not provisional."

"Which means whether Kamiko's authority is provisional or not is ambiguous," I declared triumphantly. "Heck, since I'm not wearing a tiara now, I might out rank her."

"Ambiguity, at best, implies equality and should, in general, defer to prior status," Kamiko said calmly. "I would add that the situation of Saotome-chan and myself are entirely different. Saotome-chan was restrained with the authority of the Institute itself, and removed her restraint in violation of the Institutes rules. I, on the other hand, have been improperly restrained. It seems to me that there can be no doubt as to whom predominate authority belongs."

"_Please,_" I drawled sarcastically. "You expect me to believe that an order from a senshi does not contain the 'authority of the Institute'?"

"Saotome-sama is c-correct. Unless contradicted by a greater authority, such as that of the D-Director or the Institute's Ch-charter, there is no distinction b-between orders given by the institute and those g-given by a senshi," Emiko mumbled in my defense.

"Which means, senpai, that we are both restrained by the authority of the institute," I added.

"Yes, it does appear that you are correct on that matter, Saotome-chan" Kamiko said with a sigh. "What an oversight. I suppose I will have to review the Institute's organizational structure when this matter is resolved."

Kamiko fingers began to tap a rapid rhythm on her leg as she lost herself in thought. I puzzled over the situation myself. Emiko couldn't restrain me. A good thing. But, Emiko couldn't restrain Kamiko either. That was a problem. While Kamiko was free there was nothing stopping her from raising the-

Wait. Why didn't Kamiko simply leave and raise the alarm herself?

"Emiko, do the rules Kamiko put in my tiara apply while she's wearing it?"

Kamiko stiffened, telling me the answer was definitely 'yes'.

"I do not know for certain, but I believe that is the case, Saotome-sama," Emiko answered.

"Emiko, please contact Michiko. A third voice, I believe, is needed to solve this matter," Kamiko said.

Emiko took a lurching step toward the door. She glanced back at me, her eyes filled with fear.

I snorted and motioned for her to continue. "Go ahead. But don't rush it. In fact, you look tired. Why don't you take a nice long nap first."

Kamiko flashed a look of aggravation. Then she sighed. "I didn't want to resort to this. Emiko, please hit the call switch twice in rapid succession then hold for five seconds. That will raise a general alarm. Messy, but sufficient given the circumstance."

"Stop!"

I shouted the order even as Emiko moved to press the button. Her body shook and her hand continued to reach out. Shit. Rational orders could not be so easily overridden. I grimaced. I had to get Emiko away from the button. The defensive aspects of tenki could, hypothetically, be used to protect other objects. With Emiko fixated on the device there was a good chance she could pull it off on accident.

"Get out of the way Emiko, I'll take care of it myself," I said briskly.

I pushed forward, pressing the confused Emiko to the side. I pulled back an arm-

"Stop Saotome!"

-and was brought to a sudden stop when a gauntleted fist seized my wrist. I glared at Emiko.

"Let go."

"Belay that!" Kamiko interrupted, the woman moved closer.

"Improper restraint," I retorted, jerking my arm free.

"Enough of this," Kamiko said, pushing her way to the button.

Kamiko's aura brushed against mine. A fuzzy feeling filled my head. Without thinking I stepped back. That was all the time Kamiko needed. The woman set a hand on the bare skin of Emiko's shoulder.

"Emiko, please use whatever means needed to subdue Saotome-chan."

I ground my teeth and willed myself forward. Muscles protested. _Calm down. Talk it over. There is no need for violence._ The serenity of Kamiko's aura sapped my will. But my violence was not directed at her. Emotion overwhelmed magic and I lashed out at the button with a fist.

_Swish_. I jerked my hand back. A crystal epee whipped through the afterimage and sliced a swath half as long as my forearm through wood. I retreated two steps and danced to the side. A storm of thrusts followed in my wake, threating to perforate my organs.

I met Emiko's glassy eyes then skewered Kamiko with a glare.

"I apologize for this Saotome-chan, but I trust that you are skilled enough to not be killed outright."

With unbreakable calm, Kamiko set her hand on the button. _Tap. Tap. Hold_.

Emiko's sword flashed out like lightning. The thin blade wobbled and flexed as it cut through the air, a razor sharp whip that could change its aim from throat to thigh at the flick of a wrist. Ignoring all danger, I pressed forward, my dress fluttering with my movement. A narrow stab cut close, drawing a line of blood across my ribs.

I danced closer. My footwork was stilted. Towering heels slowed my dodges and, with my ki sealed, I lacked capacity for offense. Emiko's wall of steel was impenetrable.

_Three seconds_.

With a hop I drew away from Emiko and kicked down the door. _Crash!_ Wood splintered in the hall. Still in mid air, I caught myself on a wall with the toe of my left shoe. The substance bent, but survived the forces inflicted by my stiletto heel. I pushed off and flew into the hall.

Emiko dived after. She was a moment too slow. My right foot slammed into the ground and became a pivot. My upper body rotated and I punched with all my strength. Memory guided my open hand. It smashed through the wall and landed squarely on the button's casing. I pulled. Wires stretched and snapped as the button tore free.

I crushed it for good measure.

Was that four seconds, or five?

An armored knight burst from the room in hot pursuit. Her sword flashed, raining down blows. All of them fell short. Without the pressure of having to pass Emiko, I had the freedom to fight as I pleased. Even the towering heels were not enough to stifle my defense.

Emiko chased me as I retreated. A broad grin spread across my lips. I could use this to my advantage. With exaggerated motions I fled even faster.

"Hey, Emiko," I called out.

The crystal sword quivered in Emiko's hand before stabbing five more times. The blade's tip whipped to and fro, making it hard to determine her exact target. I solved the dilemma in the laziest manner possible, by dodging wider than necessary.

"You know, you can stop now," I said conversationally.

Emiko shuddered. Her swings became erratic. They paused or slowed in mid-strike only to continue. The girl's face was a twisted mask of unpleasant emotions. She continued to fight even as seizures wracked her body.

Disgust filled me. I wasn't doing Emiko any favors by dragging this on.

"Emiko, I order you to stop. Now!" I barked.

The epee froze in an extended thrust. The knight convulsed and Emiko collapsed onto a knee. She gulped. "Yes, Saotome-sama. A-as you or-order."

She knelt there for a long time, her whole frame shuddering, before she sheathed her weapon. I let myself relax.

"Emiko," Kamiko's voice shouted, the distance reducing the noise. "Return at once!"

_Slap!_ My hands snapped over Emiko's ears before Kamiko had finished saying the girl's name. "She can't hear you!" I yelled, partially drowning out Kamiko's words.

Carefully, I peeled back my cupped palm from the knight's right ear. "Guard your ears," I hissed. "Make sure you can't hear any orders. I'll meet you at the desk."

Emiko nodded and replaced my hands with hers. Humming loudly, the girl retreated down the hall. I watched until she turned the corner. A long breath escaped me. Emiko was out of the way. Now I needed to deal with Kamiko.

Kamiko was leaning out the doorway when I spotted her. Her expression was blank and her hazel eyes narrow as they scrutinized me. She didn't speak until I was close.

"You were able to stop her, then," she said simply.

"Yeah, I was," I answered.

I flicked my wrist and caught the pair of glasses that appeared between my fingers. Propping them on my nose, I tapping the thin wire rims, hitting the invisible pressure buttons embedded in the frames. Aura mode popped up, painting ghostly colors over every object that exuded spiritual presence. I glanced into the room across from mine. Empty.

"Saotome-chan," Kamiko called from behind. "Even if you make it out, the Institute will come for you. You realize that, don't you? The Institute will never stop looking. It will chase you to the ends of the earth. If it takes one year or a hundred, the Institute will find you. The Director's pride will allow nothing else. When that happens, Artemis will destroy you. She will hold you up as an example of what befalls those that turn against her. Kohai, please don't do this."

I looked over my shoulder. Kamiko's face was inscrutable, I could not identify the expression she was wearing.

I shook my head in answer.

"You are going to destroy me either way, Kamiko-senpai." I let out a sick laugh, realizing I had given her the title 'senpai' without thinking about it. "You've half done it already. For what its worth, I don't hate you. Probably because you messed with my head, but that's the way it is, I suppose."

I pulled open the door to the other room. It was similar to my own, sporting most of the same furniture. I found my target, a mostly full bookcase. It was filled with texts and reference manuals, the contents eagerly awaiting the chance to inflict joys of studying upon any girl unfortunate enough to be captured by the Institute. I took hold of the bookcase and dragged it from the room, angling it to get it past the door and into the hall. Kamiko watched the entire time.

She knew what I was doing, sealing her in the room, but she didn't say anything about it. It was probably overkill. The tiara, if I was right, would keep Kamiko confined. But, I'd feel better knowing there was an extra layer of protection between me and the woman who could spoil my escape. If nothing else, it would make it harder for Kamiko to call for help.

"This is it, then," Kamiko said after a long silence.

"That's what I'm hoping," I answered. There was no need to discuss my fate on failure.

"I see." Kamiko closed her eyes for a moment, her strange visage vanishing into professionalism. "Very well. If I remember right, you keep your teapot in the upper shelf of the cabinet. Am I correct?" she asked.

I paused and glanced at her. "Yeah. The bags are next to it. You'll have to get water from the bathroom sink."

"Excellent. Perhaps I can use this break to catch up on some paper work," Kamiko said. She turned away and walked into the room only to stop and look back. "Saotome-chan...," she trailed off then started again. "Kohai, if you ever change your mind, I'll do what I can to keep the punishment light."

I grunted a weak laugh. "That'll never happen. But thanks, senpai, and goodbye."

I shoved the bookcase into place. Then, for good measure, I dragged out a table and used it secure my blockade.

-oOo-

Emiko was sitting behind the desk when I found her. The magical knight had transformed back, her heavy armor now replaced by the skirt and vest combination she favored. She looked cute, ordinary, and so very young sitting with her hands over her ears.

Not that I was one to talk. Thanks to Shizue, the dress I was wearing was pretty rather than practical. It was fluffy mix of blue and pink. Flowers of folded cloth decorated key points, while a wide bow on the back added to the charm. The shoes were worse. High-heels, held in place by straps. They were so tall that I was just short of walking on my toes. The disconcerting thing was, after three weeks, that seemed natural.

What couldn't be explained away was the jewelry and makeup. I had intended to leave without them, but doing so had felt _wrong. _In the end I had surrendered to the feelings, wondering whether they were born from Shizue's dollification, Kamiko's adjustment, or my own heart.

It didn't matter. A month ago, I might have fought the impulse to my last breath. Right now, little things like that no longer seemed important.

"Emiko, you don't need to do that anymore," I said.

Emiko pulled her hands from her ears and jumped to her feet. She immediately dipped into a curtsy. "Saotome-sama."

I glanced to either side. "You are the only one here?"

I hoped so. I had not been thinking when I had sent Emiko out here.

"Yes. My shift ends in four hours, Saotome-sama," Emiko answered.

Perfect. Four hours was a big block of time, which meant my worries were limited. There was a risk that someone would notice that Kamiko was missing before then. But it was small. The west wing was low traffic. There were, maybe, two dozen girls that came into this section and a quarter of them came to see me. It didn't make much sense for the Institute to waste space like that but, given their plans for world domination, I presumed the Institute was preparing for future growth.

For once, time was on my side. That left two problems. Garmr and Akane.

Garmr slept beneath the seal at the cathedral entrance. I figured he was there to catch escapees, but it was just as plausible that the giant mutt simply liked it there. In either case, treading over him was definitely in the 'bad idea' category.

Fortunately, the wolf was avoidable. I could get around him by cutting through the schoolhouse first floor. A somewhat risky tactic. I wasn't wearing a tiara, and everyone in the Institute recognized me on sight. Still, I could pull it off as long as the halls stayed quiet. That was the wild card. The schedules at the Pretty Princess Institute were controlled chaos. If a flood of girls was dumped in the hall with me, no amount of skill would keep me hidden.

Akane was a trickier issue. Weeks ago, when I pulled off my first escape attempt, I had made the conscious decision to abandon her. There had been no other choice. The timing had been too tight. Now, though, it was different. I had four, maybe even five hours. Four before Emiko's replacement showed up. Five before my tutor discovered that my door was sealed by a book case.

This time, I could go after Akane.

Chills ran down my spine. Selfishness and logic joined as one and told me to forget about her. Not worth the risk. Do it later. Save yourself. An endless chain of excuses. It wasn't easy to cast them aside. I had broken. If I had not seen Emiko and understood her silent offer, I would not have made it this far. If I failed now, I would never get another chance. Shizue would turn me into a doll. Maybe, when she was done, there would be enough left for Kamiko to salvage a senshi. Ranma Saotome, however, would be no more.

It was a mad, foolish, and pointless risk to bet on the long shot that I could grant Akane her freedom.

But, if I left now, I wasn't sure I could make myself come back. Even for her.

_I'm not going anywhere without Akane. _Words spoken to Hikaru echoed anew to haunt me. My fist tightened and nails dug into my flesh. How dare I think to leave her? Yet, what I wanted more than anything was to take those words back. I had been so naïve then. I had believed I would win – that, no matter what, things would work out.

Like they always did.

It's funny how things change. On that day, my greatest worry was for my manhood.

Ha! Stuck as a girl? What a stupid thing to fear. If I never saw the Institute again, if I never had to suffer _agony _again, if I never again woke from a nightmare longing for enslavement, if I could avoid all that, I would happily spend the rest of my life as a girl.

Then there was the greatest hilarity of all: my curse still functioned. What I had feared to lose above all else, I had kept. What I had thought could not be stolen was on the verge of being lost forever: my strength, my stubbornness, my defiance, my freedom.

Ranma Saotome, that brash boy who had assaulted the institute, I could no longer comprehend his fears and his dreams. I wasn't sure that was a bad thing, either. There were parts of me I did not need anymore. But, there were also parts that I did not want to lose. A doll submitted. Ranma fought. I wanted fight. I wanted the fight with a fire of determination that burned with such fury that all the water in the ocean could not hope to quench it.

That old Ranma, he would throw himself at the Pretty Princess Institute without hesitation. He would do whatever it took to save Akane.

I had to do the same.

I breathed, calming myself. My lungs took the air reluctantly. My limbs shivered. The path I had chosen was that of the fool. I knew it, but I would walk it nonetheless. I swallowed my fear, forcing it down so that it was hidden.

"Emiko, do you know where Akane is?"

"That is a b-bad idea, Saotome-sama," Emiko argued. "You must leave quickly."

I felt a flash of irritation. "I know that, Emiko. Do you know where she is?"

Emiko shook her head and stared down at the desk. "I'm sorry, Saotome-sama. I do not know Akane's schedule."

And the bad idea became a worse idea. Closing my eyes, I tried to think. Nothing. I couldn't go waltzing around the school without a tiara. Even my previous trick, using my glasses in aura mode to detect outliers, was a no go. After this much time, Akane would show up solid violet just like everyone else.

Another reason to give up. How quickly the determination I had stoked faded into surrender. It sickened me, the eagerness to throw away Akane to save myself.

_Save her. Whatever it takes._ That was what the Ranma of old demanded.

A fool. A fool that got himself caught. A fool who could have run away and come back a week or two later, better prepared with an army at his back. A stupid fool that had crippled himself by refusing to master tenki.

_Fight, but fight smart_. Easy to think it. Harder to do it. Damn it. Was I really going to walk away?

But what other choice did I have?

"Thanks," I murmured. "Do you have any ideas for how we can sneak out?" I didn't expect anything, but it didn't hurt to ask.

Emiko nodded. The green haired girl bent down and pulled open a drawer. From there she removed a circlet glistening with a hundred crystals. It had curved metal wires forming elegant features, all emphasizing a single gem centered above.

A tiara.

I went rigid, and the blood drained from my face.

"Michiko threw it out as a dud," Emiko said quietly. "I don't think it works."

"You don't _think_?" I growled. I slammed my hands down on the desk.

Emiko cringed back, her eyes fixing on the floor. "I- I'm sorry Saotome-sama. I don't- I just collected it and..."

I forced myself to stand up straight and direct my rage away from the girl. It wasn't Emiko's fault. She was doing her best, but even the _thought_ of putting one of those damn tiaras on my head made my blood boil. After almost a month I was finally free of that cursed object. Now she wanted me to put one on again and _hope_ that I could take it off again? Screw that. I'd take my chances and-

My mind jerked to a stop. I found myself utterly calm. "Emiko," I said quietly. "Who knows Akane's schedule?"

"Akina," Emiko replied instantly.

I nodded and took the tiara out of Emiko's hands. I stared at it for a few seconds. The gems twinkled back at me with reflections of fluorescent light. It was really quite pretty, albeit in a childish dress up sort of way. It didn't look like something that could boil the brains of the wearer and make the toughest man cry.

But I knew its power. I knew it too well. Even so, I placed it upon my head. I waited. Nothing. No magic signal indicated everything had gone wrong. All I could feel was the cold metal on my brow. Hesitantly, I reached up. My fingers gripped the frame and I shuddered. Not _agony _but the memory of it. The phantom itself was enough to make my whole body tremble.

I summoned my resolve and pulled. The tiara came off.

I let out a soft laugh. A dud. Just like Emiko said. Well then.

I put the tiara back on. "Emiko, escort me to Akina's office."

Emiko's eyes widened. "You can't!" The green haired girl stood, looking flustered. She took a second to gather herself. "Saotome-sama, you must leave now. If you... if they..."

"No. I need to finish what I started," I answered. "Emiko, escort me. Now."

It was a cruel thing to do. Emiko could not refuse a clear order when given by a senshi. She had no choice but to escort me to Akina. If I failed, if we were found out, it wouldn't be just me that suffered. Emiko would be punished for her role in my escape. The poor, frightened girl. I was dragging her on my insane quest to save Akane... to save myself.

Emiko looked hurt, but she curtsied properly, "As you wish, Saotome-sama. Follow me."

"Sorry," I whispered to her back.

-oOo-

I brushed through the hallways of the east wing, Emiko trailing behind me instead of in front. As I swished passed, girls paused and curtsied, singing out _Saotome-sama_, _Saotome-hime_, and the rare _Hime-sama_. I ignored it all. This was a well worn path. Four times a week, for three weeks, I had crossed through the school portion of the Institute to visit Michiko.

An hour in her laboratory, then back. The timing of it was carried out with clockwork precision. I had an odd fondness for the laboratory. Not for the poking and prodding, nor for Michiko's all too close examinations that cared nothing for privacy. What I enjoyed were the discussions. Michiko was a scientific library of the most esoteric kind. I would gladly submit to a dozen of her quizzes for a single chance to pick her brain for the secrets of magic and ki. Even more than Cologne or Happosai, Michiko understood the mystical world. For me, the chance to meet her was a gift.

It wasn't all fun and games though. Every visit ended with me in the chamber. There, artificial tenki would work its magic, transforming my spiritual matrix so that I would serve as the PPI's magical girl factory. But even that was not bad anymore. The chamber's shuken and haigeki no longer caused pain. In fact, the last few times had been downright pleasant.

Heels clicking on the tile surface, I ascended to the third floor. My nerves were a jumble. I waited for someone to declare my deception. Nobody did. Instead, I found myself in front of Akina's door.

I paused there, hand raised to knock, and looked over my shoulder at Emiko.

"Don't reveal anything. Don't talk unless spoken to. Keep out of the way until I'm ready to be escorted out," I said. The order was an unnecessary precaution, but I wasn't about to be sent back to my room because I left a 't' uncrossed or an 'i' undotted.

Emiko nodded. "I understand, Saotome-sama."

I knocked twice then pushed the door open.

Akina was sitting atop her desk when I stepped inside. She glanced away from her companion at the sight of me, her violet eyes widening slightly before returning to their normal state. She brushed her deep purple hair to the side, her ruby lips curving into a sly sort of smile.

"Saotome, excellent. We have something to discuss," Akina said gesturing to the woman in the seat across from her.

The other woman was Michiko. She sat in a cushioned chair wrapped in floral pattern fabric. The blond haired woman was wearing her weird but typical lab coat bathing suit combination. Her face was partially blocked by a wide board held in her lap. Michiko didn't look up, her eyes instead focused on her work. Her right hand moved a mechanical pencil across the paper quickly, scribbling unseen notes.

Michiko gave me the tiniest of nods to acknowledge my presence.

I glanced between both. "Akina," I said. "Kamiko-"

"Let Kamiko suffer," Akina interrupted. She smiled wide, clearly delighted by something. "I have a new project for us to work on. Michiko, show her."

Michiko took a second to finish her scrawl before flipping the board around. Sketched on white canvas was a girl facing forward, back, and to the side. She was wearing a cute dress with plentiful ruffles and frills. A jacket was thrown over the top with a coat-of-arms stitched on the left breast. A big bow was tied at the back, the ribbons streaming down to calf length.

Faint marking showed what Michiko had changed. The skirt had been lengthened so that it ended just above the knees instead of mid-thigh. The girl's toes were still pointed, but the heels were sliced from her shoes. Extraneous ribbons had been terminated ruthlessly. It was Michiko's clear script, however, that really caught me. _Advanced bullet resistant polymer. 4.7-6.5 mhz, 12-channel short range transmitter. IFF identifier. Arcane pulse detector_.They declared, while pointing at otherwise innocent accessories.

After a long moment, I looked away. Akina's new project was not why I was there.

"Kamiko-"

"Don't want to hear it," Akina said, cutting me off again. "So what do you think?"

I smothered my irritation. Reality was, if I had been sent here by Kamiko, I would have dragged this on as long as I could, if only to waste as much of the Institute's time as humanly possible. Unfortunately, I had an undisclosed time limit, so I had to straddle the line between suspicious and rushed.

"I'm not even sure what I'm looking at," I said honestly.

Akina's smile shined with devilish delight. "Oh? I thought it was obvious. It is the one thing this school lacks. The one thing every girl's school must have."

"Uh...," I noised indicating I still didn't understand.

Akina laughed at me, her violet eyes twinkling. "Uniforms, Saotome. Uniforms. I thought we would try and make one together and see if we can't convince the Director."

I stared at Akina. I stared at the page. I stared at Michiko. Coerced 'hobbies' aside, I wasn't all that fond of sewing. Relaxing was about the best description I had to offer. But that was beside the point. Something like this was well beyond _my_ ability, and Akina's most recent attempt at a stuffed animal was closer to eldritch terror than teddy bear.

... And that was discounting all the devices Michiko had added...

"Akina, don't you think this is a little much?" I asked.

Michiko helpfully flipped the canvas to face its originator.

Akina's expression turned sour. "Michiko. Why on earth are my uniforms bullet proof?"

"Resistant," Michiko corrected. "Dual purpose, the uniform can be used in classroom and in combat situations."

"And why would they need to be dual purpose?"

Michiko answered by pointing at me. I stifled my laugh, which only served to transform it into a giggle. _Touche_, Michiko.

From the look on Akina's face, she didn't feel the same way. But her attention was redirected to something that made her even more distraught. "What did you do to my ribbons? And the skirt, it's ruined!"

"Hard to clean," Michiko argued back. "Ribbons break and get stuck in the machine. I have to repair it. The skirt, too short."

Akina glared at Michiko, her violet eyes narrowing into slits. "Saotome's is shorter."

Michiko scrutinized me from head to toe. "Way too short."

My cheeks flushed, and I felt a surge of annoyance. Come on, my skirt wasn't _that _short. ... Err... well... I had seen shorter. Really, it was long enough to walk down the hall without giving free peeps. How much longer did a skirt need to be?

Ugh! What the hell was I thinking? Shizue controlled the clothes on hand. Stuff like this, I wouldn't wear it if I had a choice...

... Well, not usually, anyway...

Akina was unimpressed. "That isn't something someone who walks around in a bathing suit is allowed to say," she returned scathingly.

Michiko cocked her head to the side as though not understanding. "An official uniform would be worn by all students. The Institute should not require its student to present themselves in a sexually enticing manner."

"It isn't about sex. It's about looking good," Akina proclaimed. She shifted her eyes to me. "Right, Saotome?"

The question left me feeling uncomfortable. "I don't really care. Either way is fine with me," I answered hurriedly. "More importantly, Kamiko said I could visit Akane. Can you tell me where she is?"

"Ah, so that is why you're here," Akina said quietly. "I apologize. If I had known I would have sent you on your way. Give me a second. I will look it up."

Akina slipped off her desk, sauntered around it, and slid into her chair. With a manicured finger, she pushed the button in the lower right hand corner of the CRT monitor. The electronics hummed to life, and the screen crackled with light.

"Room 213, introduction to object manifestation. I will accompany you and inform Ine-sensei," Michiko answered first, her fingers playing a rapid rhythm on the rims of her glasses. Michiko removed the ocular devices a second later and placed them in lab coat pocket.

"Thank you, Michiko. Next time I won't bother getting up." Akina's smile was menacing. "Go ahead, Saotome. We can talk uniforms later."

I nodded and carefully met Emiko's eyes when I turned. The green haired girl showed nothing. She remained silent when she stepped away from the wall, ready to escort me to the second floor of the school. There was a rustle of movement behind me as Michiko stood then walked to the door. I moved to follow, but stopped when Akina spoke up.

"Saotome," she said. Her expression was strict. "Akane isn't your equal. You can be friends, but don't forget that. If the Director or Kamiko catch you treating her as a peer, the lessons will not be pleasant. Stick to formality and don't give them more excuses."

I nodded and left.

-oOo-

Emiko and I stood outside of room 213 while Michiko conferred with Ine-sensei. The scientist magical woman stepped out a minute later, nodded to me, and walked off. A few seconds later, the door opened again, and Akane stepped out.

I froze at the sight of her. Short, dark hair. A blue dress that ended at the calves. For an instant, I was looking into the past. Nothing had changed. Akane was the same girl I had walked the streets with on long Sunday afternoons.

"Saotome-hime." A voice too demure to be directed at me. Akane dipped into a graceful curtsy.

The illusion shattered.

The dress was not the same. The ruffled sleeves and collar were embellished with lace. A cute bow decorated the front. Simple, but feminine. The same was true of the light makeup highlighting Akane's features and the silver studs sparkling in her ears.

Atop it all rested the tiara, an accessory too fanciful for Akane's dress. Seeing it brought relief. Yes, the tiara was a terrible thing, but its presence meant Akane was still untrusted.

"Akane," I breathed.

Akane straightened herself and twirled. Her dress fluttered up as she span. I took in the sight of her. It had been nearly a month. It felt like forever.

"So, how do I look?" she asked.

"Cute," I said honestly. My lips curved into an impish smirk. "As cute as gorillia can look, anyway."

Akane's eyes flashed. "Can't you say anything nice? I've been worried about you, but I guess I didn't need to be. Looks like you're just fine, playing senshi and dressing up like a princess."

The insult couldn't touch me. Seeing Akane angry gave birth to a wan smile.

"Sounds like you're doing okay, too."

"Of course I am!" Akane said with a huff. Then her anger evaporated only to be replaced by a visage of concern. "How about you? I heard that they sent you to Handa-san. It was all the girls could gossip about when it happened."

I gave my head a tiny shake. No. I wasn't okay. One glance should have been enough to see that. I was dangling above the abyss by a frayed thread. The prospect of escape was the only thing holding me together right now. My future was bleak, and all I could see within it was hopelessness.

"How about we get out of this place?" I asked, changing the subject.

Akane fidgeted and glanced at the door of room 213. "I'd like to, but I shouldn't. I'm this close to getting the hang of manifesting my magic." Akane gave me a fiery look. "In fact, you better watch out. Ine-sensei says I'm talented. I'll be better than you before you know it."

I snorted. "Keep dreaming." I grimaced and shook my head. "No. That wasn't what I was talking about. I meant _leave_ leave, Akane. As in we breakout, escape, _leave the Institute_," I clarified.

"Leave? Ran-" The phrase cut off and Akane's whole body went rigid. "- Saotome-hime, are you sure you're feeling alright? If you are having a relapse, I can get Ine-sensei and-"

"Relapse?" I stared at the girl, confused. "What are you talking about, Akane? There's nothing wrong with me. Come on. Don't you want to leave?"

Akane drew back. "No!" She exclaimed, sounding horrified by the idea. "Why would I want to leave? I'm a magical girl now. I'm a hundred times stronger than before. Ukyou and Shampoo wouldn't stand a chance. The Institute is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

"And you. You're a senshi. A princess. Beautiful. Perfect. Everything a girl dreams of being. You're telling me you want to throw that away?"

"I'm not -"

I stopped. The words that came next, I couldn't say them anymore. They had been cut away. I had done it to myself. With my own two hands, I had killed Denial. I was a girl. Maybe not in heart, but certainly in body. I could no longer run from that truth.

I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"I didn't ask to be a senshi," I said eventually.

My answer made Akane madder. "You didn't ask to be a senshi? How can you say that!" Akane lips warped into a visage of hatred and jealously. "Oh. I get it. That's why they sent you to Handa-san. You are _broken_," she sneered. "Why did they bother with you? They should have picked me instead. I'm the best fighter in my class. I'm number two in spiritual strength. I want to be a senshi. But, instead, they chose you. It's not fair."

Fury boiled inside of me. My hands tightened into fists. I leaned forward, full of threat, mouth open and a retort on my lips-

The rage vanished. What was I doing? I had come here to save Akane, not to fight with her. Arguing was pointless. But what else could I do? It was obvious that Akane wasn't coming. She didn't understand why I would want to leave.

"What did they do to you?" I asked with quiet voice.

"They fixed me," Akane boasted. "It only took two adjustments. Only ten other girls can say that, and only one was faster."

The sheer pride Akane conveyed made me choke. What had Kamiko found inside my fiancée that broke her so quickly? Was she like me? Had Akane been dragged into her own mind, ready to fight, only to watch a part of herself betray her? Or had Kamiko gambled with Akane's life, coercing changes too large and threatening to be perpetrated on a precious senshi? I didn't know. I might never know.

I wanted to deny the things I was seeing and hearing. The Akane I remembered was strong. She would not have broken. She was supposed to be here, waiting, already halfway free even before I swooped in to drag her from the fire.

But, even if I turned away, the truth remained. Akane was theirs now. I couldn't save her. I had failed at my most important task.

Emotion drained away. Left in its place was icy stillness.

"You may return to your class, Tendo-chan."

I heard myself say it. The dull formality was almost second nature. A role branded into my soul come alive for the first time. A senshi speaking through my lips. I should have been disturbed, but right then the cold disregard was a shield against the open wounds cut into my heart.

"Don't think you can dismiss me like that!"

"You forget your place, Tendo-chan," I snapped. The retort escaped my lips before I could quench it. A part of me wanted to take it back, but the rest of me did not care enough to try.

Akane's face colored with rage. Her body rose up, ready to unleash a storm. Then she went rigid. Dispassionately, I watched her choke on the words she wanted to scream. The moment passed. Akane regained control, a volcano halted at the cusp of eruption.

"As you wish, Saotome-hime," Akane spat. She gave a crude curtsy and turned away. She stomped back to her class throwing the door open with a bang before disappearing inside.

I wrenched my eyes away. Beneath the cold exterior my guts twisted on themselves. I'll be back for you. I didn't say it aloud. It was a promise to myself. Someday, I would make myself come back for her. When I did, I would drag her from these halls by force.

I'm sorry, Akane. I'm sorry I failed.

I raised my bowed head and faced Emiko. Here was a girl who had risked everything. A girl whose future I had placed in danger. For nothing.

"Sorry about this."

"You don't have to apologize, Saotome-sama," Emiko said. Her voice was soft and comforting. She reached out shyly, but drew her hand back before it touched. "She's still there. All of them are still there. They might be different, but they are still there."

I absorbed Emiko's words and tried to believe. I couldn't. Akane would never be the same. I would never be the same. Emiko would never be the same. What the Institute changed, it changed forever. Emiko knew that, which is why she sounded so desperate, as though she were trying to convince herself.

"Lets go."

The halls were empty as we passed through them. The whole school's population was concentrated into a handful of classrooms. I glanced through the doors as we passed. An empty room. Seven girls trying to form balls of energy between their hands. Two dozen girls, half with tiara's on their heads, sitting dutifully behind desk, looking little different than school girls.

In a way, that was what they were. Even for me, the bulk of my time had been consumed by general education. The Pretty Princess Institute wasn't all hellfire and damnation. There were ordinary moments. There were happy moments. I wouldn't miss it, though. The horrors the Institute inflicted tainted everything. When confronted by that evil, all the good the Institute did became meaningless.

Stairs brought us down to the first floor then outside through a pair of double doors. I shielded my eyes while they adjusted to the sun.

The yard was as I remembered. Rows of short bushes were trimmed into long rectangles. Flowers were laid out in artistic displays. The lawn was perfectly even, not a single blade of grass daring to grow taller than its neighbors. Further from the estate, artificial beauty gave way to the wild. Trees grew with branches askew. Patches of clover and tufts of grass gathered at their trunks.

The two of us followed the cobble path until it joined with the main road. From there, we had a straight shot to the Institute's gates. The wrought iron doors were wide open, begging me to run through. I ignored that foolish urge and instead focused on the two girls that stood guard in their colorful dresses.

I squinted. Sloppy. The girls were leaning against the waist high brick wall while chatting casually. It was hard to believe I was seeing it. I had attacked the Institute a mere month ago. Negligence like that was inexcusable.

"Saotome-sama, the gate is the only way out," Emiko said quietly.

"I know," I answered.

I strolled forward. The choker was a problem. While wearing it, magical girls were invincible. There was no sneaking past, either. The girls might be lax, but the terrain between us was open. They would have to be blind to not see me coming.

"Saotome-sama," Emiko called out worriedly.

I slowed to a stop and stepped off into the woods. I shot another glance at the guards then at Emiko. The green vested girl was wringing her hands nervously. I could tell that she had not thought her plan through further than this.

Not that I could blame her. My plan had lasted until I hit the door. The fact I had not bothered with more than that showed better than anything how little faith I had that it would work.

To be fair, it nearly didn't.

"Think you can take one of them?" I asked, nudging my head toward the gate.

Emiko jumped, startled. She looked at the guards from over her shoulder. "I don't know, Saotome-sama. I think- I think I can. But..."

I grinned, my smile spreading until it became an arrogant smirk. "Good. That's all I need. Follow my lead and try to act natural."

"N-natural," Emiko chirped from behind.

I didn't bother to answer. Instead, I moved forward with long, forceful strides, my face falling into a mask of wrath. The guards didn't look up until I was ten meters away. When they did, they jerked and sputtered. The two stepped away from the wall and fixed their gowns before delivering the required curtsies.

"Saotome-sama" "Hime-sama" they stammered out simultaneously.

I swept steely eyes over the pair. On the left was a blond in a sky blue dress that ended at the ankles. Beside her was a brunette in yellow. Neither showed a scrap of combat potential. My lips curled in disgust.

"Excuse me," I began, my voice dripping acid. "What-"

Yellow cut me off, conjuring up a confidence her companion lacked. "Saotome-sama," she said roughly. "You aren't allowed to be-"

"Did I give you permission to speak!" I barked over the girl's words.

Yellow jerked back and bumped into the brick wall. Beside her, Blue cringed. She pulled her body tight, shrinking herself until she was as small as possible.

"No, but I-" Yellow tried to say, her control faltering.

"I hear talking," I growled.

I fixed the girl with my eyes, doing my best to duplicate Kamiko's hawk-like stare. My menacing presence crushed her dissent.

"Better," I pronounced. I strolled across the pair, a sergeant evaluating her flock. "Now, do either of you two care to tell me what's wrong with this picture?"

Blue stammered out a broken defense. "I- we-"

Yellow spoke up, saving her friend. "We admit our laxness Saotome-sama. However, you are-"

"Laxness," I said, cutting the girl off. I rolled the word in my mouth as though tasting it. "Are you under the impression that such _laxness_ is acceptable?"

Yellow opened her mouth then snapped it closed. Her face took on a red hue, growing brighter until it matched the embarrassment showing on her companion's cheeks. Blue couldn't even look me in the eye. She studied the grass, searching for the legendary blade of irregular length.

I nearly cackled with glee. These girls had been warned before. I stepped up the pressure, closing on Yellow until I was staring her straight in the face.

"Nothing to say, huh. Shall I give you a list?" I surveyed the pair. "Chatting while one duty-"

"- that isn't against-" Yellow started to object.

I spoke louder, "_-to the point of neglect_. A failure of decorum – _don't give me that look_, I saw you leaning up against the fence. Unpreparedness and..."

I trailed off. My eyes shifted from Yellow to Blue. The girl trembled under my gaze, shifting her body in what looked like a nervous gesture. It came a moment too late. I spotted the green stains on the bottom of her dress. My gaze slid up, my eyes heat seeking missiles that had locked onto her. Even three paces away, I could hear her gulp.

"Is there something you want to share with me?" I asked sweetly. As quiet as my voice was, I'm sure she could have heard from the other side of a football field.

"I uh- Well... you-" Blue stumbled over her words, tears leaking from her eyes. Suddenly, it all came out in a rush. "I had to sit down! ... my feet hurt..."

Yellow jumped in, selflessly directing attention from her friend. "It isn't her fault, Saotome-sama. If the Institute wants us to stand guard for eight hour shifts, it should drop the rule requiring heels."

I offered no sympathy. Yellow's gutsy attempt wouldn't have survived half a second if placed before Akina or Kamiko. Either of those women would have slapped Yellow so hard that she would have been walking home from the next ward over.

Yellow didn't respect my authority.

She couldn't have given me a better excuse.

I stepped in, so close that my nose was half a hand-span away from Yellow's. I dominated the girl with my presence. Though I was at least four centimeters shorter, Yellow shank until I was looking down at her.

"You are the first girls a dignitary will see. So, tell me, do you think it is acceptable to be wearing a dress with a _giant green splotch on the back_?"

Yellow tried to step back, but she was already pinned against the wall. Nervously, she straightened her body. "It isn't that big. Besides, you aren't even allowed to be-"

"-Not big?" I asked. I gave her a look that told her she was an idiot. "I think there is a miscommunication here. Allow me clarify."

_Slam!_

My fist smashed into the _untransformed _magical girl's jaw. Yellow's head rocked back, the momentum of my blow reverberating through her skull. Her brain shook in its casing. Unconsciousness followed. The girl's body folded up and flopped onto the ground.

Blue stared stupidly. Emiko, belatedly realized that the fight had started. She rushed a transformation. She shouldn't have bothered. Two bounds brought me to the Blue, who, in her panic, hadn't even started tenki. All it took was a single blow to her temple, and the girl was out for the count.

"Idiots. What did they think they were doing? Guard duty without tenki." I shook my head in disgust.

Just went to show that the Institute had all types. The monstrously strong, the dangerously competent, and the just plain stupid. I wondered how Artemis planned to conquer the world with this lot.

I stooped down and grabbed Blue by the arms. I dragged her across the grass before propping her up in a sitting position by the gate. The irony of it was beautiful. I had just finished berating the girls about grass stains and here I was creating an even bigger one.

"Don't they teach you guys anything," I grumbled as I worked. I looked up at the magical knight, "Hey, grab Yellow and drag her over there," I said pointing at the other side of the gate.

Emiko moved as ordered. As she did so, she released her transformation. It took less than three seconds for Emiko's armor to dissolve into motes of light.

"They teach us," Emiko answered quietly. "How to transform. How to use our magic. Ishii-hime runs combat drills every other week. Most of the girls... they don't put much effort into it."

You can bring a horse to water, but can't make it drink. I suppose that was how it went. It didn't make much sense to me. Military training was all about making prospective soldiers _want_ to learn, generally by turning their lives into hell until they did. It worked. Most of the time. If these girls were under trained, it was because the Institute wasn't putting effort into it.

Why? Did it not occur to them? Did they not see the point of it? Could the lack of training be _intentional_? It could be any one of those. It could be all three. It could be something else entirely. Whatever the PPI's reasons were, I didn't get it. And, as much as the incompetence irked me, it favored me now.

Standing a few paces back, I eyed the two unconscious guards. Perfect. From a distance, Yellow and Blue would look like a pair of slacker napping on the job. From what I saw, that wouldn't be a far cry from usual.

I turned to Emiko and nodded. She gave a weak smile and followed.

The last steps out of the Institute were uneventful. I walked through the wrought iron gates, watching as green hills wavered and broke. The mirage of nature was replaced by the streets of Akihabara. I crossed the same intersection where, so long ago, Setsuna had stood. Cars whizzed past me, through me, ghostly images I could not touch.

We continued on, not saying a word. I sank into memory. The emotional drive that I brought me here a month ago was vacant. Lost, too, was the self assurance I had quashed before putting on a frilly dress. Things were so different back then. Innocent. I could not have imagined the shape of the Institute. I had not seen how far I could be changed.

A naivety that could never be restored.

The bustling city was loud. Pedestrians slipped by, their admiring eyes pausing to catch glimpse. I maneuvered through the crowd, neither seeing nor hearing the humanity around me. I had no real destination and, before I knew it, I was following Emiko. She led me down into the subway and onto a train. From there we were swept into the depths of Tokyo.

I was fine with that. Right now the place I wanted to be was 'lost'. I had nowhere to be and nowhere go. Soon, the Institute would realize I was gone. They would send girls to pursue me. They had my profile. The Tendo Dojo was out, and I couldn't head to my mother's house either. In the end, there was only one destination: the crummy warehouse that Hikaru, Chiba, and Fumio called headquarters.

I didn't want to go there yet. Before I saw those three, I wanted to learn anew who I was. To remind myself what it was I stood for. The Institute had blurred the edges of Ranma Saotome. My existence had become vague and distant.

Perhaps it had always been that way.

Who was I? Boy. Girl. Martial artist. Doll. Senshi. Student. Words that could define me. Yet, each in turn described so little.

Boy or girl. That question had haunted me for years. At first it had been a war between confidence and fear. What I knew versus what I had not.

Now? These days I understood nothing. Was I a boy? What made a boy a boy? Was I a girl? What made a girl a girl? Was I a boy if I loved the thrill of a fight and the tension of competition? Was I a girl if I wanted to dress up nice and look pretty? What if I wanted both? What if I wanted neither? What would I be then? Boy, girl, did those words actually mean anything?Anything at all?

It seemed impossible, the question of who I was. I didn't even know what I liked anymore. Did I like the clothes Shizue gave me, or did I not? For that matter, would I still enjoy the rush of battle, or would the doll in me cringe at the idea of doing harm? If I couldn't answer simple things like that, answering the harder questions was unfathomable.

The train stopped while I was lost deep in my thoughts. A girl at my side stood and dropped a small hand bag in my lap. I looked down in confusion, then I glanced up. Emiko offered a frail smile.

"Saotome-sama, I have to leave now," she said quietly. With that, she turned and left, sweeping through the train's folding doors.

I froze, my hand clutching the bag for no other reason than it was there. I stared after her blankly. It was only when the doors began to shut that I was able to move. When I did so, I did it in a rush, jumping from my seat and diving through the narrow opening. The walkway was packed, but I shoved my way through, chasing after the green haired girl glimpsed only briefly in the throng.

"Wait!" I shouted over the din.

Emiko stopped in mid-step. She paused there for a moment, then slowly moved herself next to a wall. There she waited. She had no choice. I had given an order.

My run slowed to a walk and I pushed closer. I wondered what it was I was doing. Emiko and I barely knew each other. Momentary companions helping one another. That was all. But, I didn't want things to end like this. A goodbye without looking back.

"Where are you heading?" I asked when I came to a stop.

Emiko looked away, peering down at a cup that hadn't made it into the bin.

"Back," she whispered.

My mind went blank. What? Emiko's words were gibberish. Meaningless noise. I had misheard.

"Back?" I repeated.

"Yes. I- I have to go back. I have to inform Nishimura-sensei of your escape," Emiko answered.

I scowled. "So? Kamiko didn't give you a time, did she? Send Michiko a post or something."

Emiko shook her head. "It... it isn't that simple, Saotome-sama. I have to return. The Institute, it requires that I report to the dormitories every night."

Emiko remained unintelligible. It had to be a joke. Otherwise, why would she do this? Emiko, for helping me, would be punished. There was no question of her guilt. She had clearly favored me in the conflict with Kamiko. So, why? Why did Emiko do it? I didn't know her. She didn't know me. Why?

Yet, here we were. There was no denying it. Emiko had doomed herself to save me.

My expression turned dark and my gaze became sharp. This wasn't allowed. _I_ protected. _I_ saved. _I_ sacrificed. Nobody else.

"That... That's stupid. _We_ didn't escape only for you to go back," I growled.

Emiko said nothing. By doing so, she said everything.

I stepped forward. "Fine. I get it. You have to go back. If that's how it is then I'll just have to make it so you can't go back."

Emiko put a gentle hand on my shoulder. She glanced up, an accident that caused her eyes to meet mine. I saw inside them what she was trying to hide, a desperate desire for freedom, denied forever.

Emiko jerked her head away, hiding the misty tears. "Thank you, Saotome-sama, but there is nothing you can do."

"Then why? Why do _this_!" I shouted sweeping my arm around. "You didn't do this just so I could escape, did you?" My question was an accusation.

"Y- yes," Emiko murmured.

Without thinking, I grabbed Emiko's shoulders and shoved her against the wall. Emiko trembled in my grasp, but I was so angry I couldn't see it. I held her there, pinning her as though by physical force I could get my answer.

"Why," I demanded again.

"Because," Emiko trailed off, her eyes swaying across the ground. "Because I- I wanted... I wanted to be more than a tool for evil."

An answer I could understand. But I didn't like it. I couldn't end things like that. It was unacceptable for Emiko to go back to the Institute with a victory so small.

"What do you want." It wasn't a question, it was a command.

"I don't want anything," Emiko whispered while staring at the ground. "Saotome-sama, just... stay free. Run away, and never come back. Forget the Institute. Forget everything."

I shook my head. That was not a promise I could keep. Akane was still there. Even ignoring that, running was pointless. The Institute would hunt me down. Kamiko made that clear. I didn't want to spend my whole life running.

Besides, Emiko's plea was a lie. The girl was desperately searching for hope. She had decided that hope was me, that she could fill the gap in her soul by saving me. It was stupid. People can't live through other people.

"I can't do that. Ask for something for yourself."

"Th- there is n-nothing I want," Emiko whispered again.

"Don't give me that crap. Emiko, I_ order_ you to ask."

Emiko trembled. She tried to look away. She tried to swallow her own words, but she couldn't stop it. She was helpless. Forcing her to bare her heart like this, had I become a monster?

"I-I want to be free," Emiko choked out. "I want mom to smile down at me and ask how my day went. I want to squeeze into the couch next to my sister and steal her magazines. I want to go to school again, a real school, and play with my friends. But I can't have those things. I can never have them again."

And I couldn't give them to her either. That was why she hadn't asked. I was as powerless as she was. There was nothing I could do for Emiko. But I still couldn't accept it. There had to be something. Anything.

"There is always something," I grumbled. "I don't care if its stupid or small. There has to be an order I can give, or a loophole to exploit."

I was thinking out loud. If I worded it right, could I tell Emiko to sneak out and visit her family, even if just once? But, it wasn't that easy. I was one senshi amongst five. The Institute had foreseen this. It had defined laws to guide Emiko's actions. Rules stacked on rules, with months or years of revisions whenever Emiko stepped outside her bounds.

Even if I found that special order, it would be short lived. Kamiko would force Emiko to tell her everything when she came back. Then she would undo whatever it was I had done.

"Saotome-sama, I- I have something." Emiko had heard something I had not. Her tearful face was filled with determination. "P-please have my knight's oath."

"Your oath?" I questioned. I sighed in irritation. "Emiko, I'm telling you to do something for yourself."

Emiko shook her head. "I can't," she whispered. "Saotome-sama, you don't understand. I must do as I'm told. Even if the Institute weren't there anymore, I would belong to someone else. I can never be free. So please, Saotome-sama, if I have to serve someone, let it be someone decent. Let it be you."

Again and again, Emiko reached for things that weren't for her. She kept placing her hopes in someone else. She was right. I didn't understand. For her, this was the only choice. To me, it sounded like a terrible one.

But what else did she have? Emiko had to obey. The Institute had drilled the chains in so deep that Emiko could never escape that truth.

Better me than the Pretty Princess Institute, right? It was an ugly, slimy idea that tainted me merely by conceiving it. I didn't want to own a person. And, with Emiko, that was essentially what this was. She couldn't disobey. If I told her to slit her own throat, she would do it without hesitation.

Yet, how could I refuse when she was asking? She had sacrificed herself for me. The obligation I owed her could not be described by so shallow a word as honor.

I scowled. "Will this get you away from the Institute?"

"No," Emiko whispered. "Even if I become your knight, I cannot so easily shed prior decree," Emiko answered honestly. "But, Saotome-sama, if you do this, then I can treat your orders as supreme, above even those of other senshi."

Not enough. That wasn't nearly enough. To be worth it, Emiko needed more. She needed freedom.

"This is a horrible idea. Find something else," I said.

"There isn't anything else, Saotome-sama," Emiko replied. Her determination had yet to fade. "You asked me what I wanted. This... this is what I want. Please, Saotome-sama, allow me this."

My scowl turned ugly. I looked away. "No."

Emiko shrank. "Am I not good enough?" she whispered.

"That's not," I growled in frustration. My guts twisted at the sight of Emiko's dejection then twisted again at the thought of accepting. "Fine. If this really what you want, I won't stop you."

"Thank you, Saotome-sama," Emiko said reverently. She bowed her head and sank to her knees. "I swear myself to you, Saotome-sama. For forevermore, I shall serve as your sword and your shield. All that is evil, I shall beat from your path. All that is good, I shall give onto you. What you will, I shall make done, no matter the hardship or folly. This I pledge, for a thousand lives and a thousand deaths, never faltering."

I hid my grimace and bowed my head. Emiko's oath was now mine and with it came the weight of obligation. Foolish girl. She asked me to run. She asked me to stay free. But now I was bound to her as throughly as she was bound to me. I had to save her. It was no longer a choice. It was a duty.

By my hand, the Institute would be destroyed.

I raised my head and took the burden. "I accept your oath, knight." My answer was clear and crisp, the words of a senshi.

I smiled weakly, looking down upon the girl. "However, I've got some ground rules you've got follow. First thing's first, you live for yourself. You aren't going to make me happy by being unhappy. Also, when I give a stupid order, say so. I uh... don't always think things through. Besides, if I really want you to do something stupid, I can damn well repeat myself. Oh, and this one goes above all others, if I tell you to do something that will get you hurt, _I command you to disobey_."

Emiko looked at me, tears leaking from her eyes. Suddenly, she surged forward and hugged my leg tightly.

"Thank you Saotome-sama," Emiko said. "Thank you."

I grimaced again and opened my mouth to give a response. A new voice cut in. It was honey sweet, sticky, and filled with acrid sarcasm.

"Isn't _this_ a touching scene."

The speaker giggled sadistically. I turned to face her, but I already knew who it was. Chiyo Mori.

And I still had the damn choker around my neck.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Experiments:**

Notes extracted from Michiko's logs:

**XT-01:** (Failed)

_Purpose:_ Evaluation of theoretical personality modification techniques.

_Results:_ Limited effect. Subject died due to suicide, trauma induced during personality reconstruction is the likely cause. Recommend that psychological evaluations be carried out on future subjects to catch potentially undesirable/destructive traits at earlier stages.

_Proposal:_ Chiyo Mori has shown the capacity for efficient and permanent mental modification. Use of magics based on similar principles may produce superior results with lower associated risks (see XT-02).

**XT-02:** (Failed)

_Purpose:_ Modify an uncrystallized spiritual core to induce abilities capable of personality overwrite.

_Results: _XT-02 experiment shows limited success. Permanent mental alteration abilities are present and the abilities show a greater than expected versatility. However, the subject is crippled by highly destructive side effects – neural degeneration of the tested targets.

_Proposal:_ XT-02 experiment shows promise. Greater understanding of spiritual modification techniques is, however, needed to achieve a more exact replication of the desired abilities.

_Addendum[1]:_ Technological moderation of XT-02's abilities have proven successful in suppressing the negative side affects. Additional experiments should be conducted to see if more advanced personality altering effects can be produced through the use of sophisticated technologies (see XT-05).

_Addendum[2]:_ XT-02 experiment re-evaluated as 'unintended success'. The duplication of XT-02's abilities is now deemed critical to the Institute's interests (see XT-10).

**XT-03** (Success)

_Purpose: _Study of the practical limits and dangers associated with spiritual modification.

_Results: _XT-03a, XT-03b, XT-03e deceased. XT-03c later terminated. Study of spiritual modification indicates that directed modification causes heavy spiritual damage which may manifest over a period of weeks. Damage becomes greater the higher the deviancy of the modification becomes. Modification of a fully crystallized spiritual matrix has proven impossible. In future experiments it is recommended that all candidates be selected prior to the initial development of their abilities.

The XT-03 experiment has yielded significant data. Control of spiritual modification techniques has been improved. Medical examinations have revealed the major causes of spiritual damage. Future modification efforts will thus produce a higher yield.

Experiment deemed successful.

_Proposal:_ The potential for directed evolution is high. Further experimentation is recommended (see XT-06, XT-07, XT-09).

**XT-04 **(Canceled)

_Purpose: _Genetic and physiological study of a rare male child of a magical girl.

_Results: _ escaped.

_Proposal:_ Data collected is limited. Recapture is required for further study. Recommend multi-year live evaluation followed by dissection.

_Addendum[1]:_ Field encounters with XT-04 show high levels of hostility. Experiment is low priority. Recommend immediate termination.

**XT-05** (Success)

_Purpose:_ Develop an advanced technology to fully utilize subject XT-02's abilities.

_Results_: Successful. Techniques developed during the experiment show the ability to invoke dramatic and customized modifications to the target's personality. Resistance to this technique appears to be limited.

_Proposal:_ The developed technique should be applied to all girls deemed high priority.

_Addendum[1]:_ Medical examinations show possible side effects of the XT-05 (adjustment) process. In depth study of adjustment is recommend (see XT-08).

**XT-06**: (Failure)

_Purpose: _ Use technological induction to enhance spiritual powers.

_Results:_ Success. Subject shows a sustained 150% increase to spiritual strength. Experimental data supports the hypothesis that spiritual strength could be increased to much higher levels.

_Proposal:_ Enhancement recommended for all girls categorized as C or lower. Greater infrastructure will be needed to effectively enhance girls qualified as class B or A.

_Addendum[1]:_ The initial subject (XT-06a) died after a 7-month period. The autopsy indicates that spiritual modification was the probable cause. Abort all enhancement treatments until a full health evaluation can be completed.

_Addendum[2]:_ Two of the follow up subjects (XT-06b, XT-06d) died after a 11-month and 17-month period. Seven other early phase subjects show what are currently deemed minimal health complications. Experiment reevaluated as a failure. Additional study needed (see XT-12).

**XT-07:** (Success):

_Purpose:_ Replication of XT-02 experiment with corrections and improvement to the methodology.

_Results: _Limited success. Subject shows all desired modification capabilities, but modification rate remains slower than anticipated by an order of magnitude. Experimental data suggests that higher spiritual power may lead to improved results.

_Proposal:_ While experimentally useful the subject, XT-07, produces a personality transformation with undesirable traits. Test subjects T-07a and T-07b have been subsequently allocated to tasks suitable for the given modifications, but no place is envisioned for future subjects. XT-07 has fulfilled its experimental purpose, recommend immediate termination [Overruled].

_Addendum[1]:_ Additional experimentation shows that XT-07 can be safely used in a hybrid personality modification approach in conjunction with the XT-05 (Adjustment) process.

_Addendum[2]:_ The core XT-02/XT-07 experiment is to be replicated again (see XT-11).

**XT-08** (Success)

_Purpose: _Evaluation of the safe limits of the XT-05 process (from hence forth: 'Adjustment').

_Results: _Success. Subject XT-08a was subjected to 21 adjustments prior to full neural collapse. Subject XT-08b was subject to 16 adjustments prior to full neural collapse. Both subjects exhibited increasingly erratic behavior in the later adjustment stages.

Medical evaluations indicate low, but cumulative neural damage from the adjustment process. Damage increases at a non-linear rate, becoming substantially worse with repeated adjustments. Long rest periods decrease both iterative and cumulative damage, with the effects tapering off after a one week period.

Follow up experiment XT-08c, showed that a delayed adjustment procedure is medically superior. After 20 adjustments XT-08c remained functional, showing a peak neural degeneration 1/3rd of that experienced by XT-08a, and XT-08b. Long term medical evaluations indicate that 80% of lost functionality was eventually recovered.

_Proposal:_ The experiment indicates adjustment is safe, but should be carried out in a controlled methodical manner. Two week recovery times are recommended, with exemptions issued only for special cases. All candidates for adjustment should be given before and after medical/psychological evaluations to determine progress and identify potential dangers.

_Addendum[1]:_ Statistical study indicates that more severe and more permanent neural damage is strongly correlated with the following traits: a highly resistant subject, attempts to adjust core personality constructs, and most especially both. Recommend that future adjustments avoid these whenever possible. Data indicates that multiple minor adjustments should be significantly less damaging than a single, major adjustment that produce the same net psychological effect.

**XT-09**: (Success):

_Purpose: _ Implantation of a personality matrix into a subject's spiritual core.

_Results: _Success. Implantation caused normally limited mental magic to renew on subsequent tenki actions. Further, the personality matrix continues to strengthen as part of the normal tenki carryover process. Subject XT-09 showed permanent alteration in as short as three months.

_Proposal:_ This technique is recommend as a compliment to the normal adjustment procedures. This technique may have merit as the primary personality alteration mechanism for girls deemed low priority.

_Addendum[1]:_ Further evaluation of subject XT-09 reveals that the subject has limited functionality. The cause is not the XT-09 experiment, but rather the form of its application. Recommend that future implantations utilize a more emotion oriented personality matrix. Additional study and experimentation may be needed to discover the most effective mixes.

**XT-10:** (Uninitiated):

_Purpose:_ Replicate the unintended results of XT-02 experiment.

_Notes:_ An optimal subject has been located. Abduction delayed in favor of XT-11.

**XT-11:** (Active) Ranma Saotome

_Purpose: _Attempt to recreate the original XT-02 experiment.

_Notes: _Proposed experiment subject: Ranma Saotome. Stabilized Jusenkyo curse, independent personality, and high spiritual power all promise to correct the problems that appeared during the XT-07 experimental attempt.

**XT-12**: (Uninitiated)

_Purpose:_ Reattempt XT-06 spiritual enhancement experiment.

_Note[1]:_ The XT-12 experiment should proceed with extreme caution. A three year deployment is suggested before high-level personnel are exposed to the process.

_Note[2]:_ A higher grade arcane transformer is required before experimentation proceeds. A silver millennium class B-II generator, or superior arcane energy source is desired to reduce what is believed to be damaging flux.


	9. Gods and Monsters

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

"_Thank you Saotome-sama," Emiko said. "Thank you."_

_I grimaced again and opened my mouth to give a response. A new voice cut in. It was honey sweet, sticky, and filled with acrid sarcasm._

"_Isn't this a touching scene."_

_The speaker giggled sadistically. I turned to face her, but I already knew who it was. Chiyo Mori._

_And I still had the damn choker around my neck._

-oOo-

**Chapter 9: Gods and Monsters**

-oOo-

The crowd flowing through Tokyo's subway evanesced, a falling tide of humanity vanishing into the corridors and exits. In the emptying room stood Chiyo, an adorable angel from the flaming pits of hell. Her smile shined with malice, and her fluffy pink dress, with all its lace and sparkles, only accentuated an aura of corrupted innocence.

"Chiyo Mori."

"Lovely to see you too, Ranma-chan. That was cruel of you, running off to fight Gondul instead of me. I was so disappointed. But here we are, together again! Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

Chiyo twirled, her arms spread wide. Her mocking giggle echoed through the vacant hall. It was midday, in the middle of the week. The chance a place like this would be empty was infinitesimal. But probability knelt before Chiyo. This was her magic at work. I could feel it in the air, a thin film scented with cinnamon, distorting reality to suit her whim.

Emiko untangled herself from my leg. She set herself before me. Light bent around her. Clothes evaporated into a hazy mist only to reform as solid, metal plates. The newly transformed magical knight set a gauntleted hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Saotome-sama, I'll h-hold her off." Emiko trembled as she spoke.

I stared at Emiko. Idiot. Chiyo would swat her like a fly. Hell, Emiko wouldn't buy me more than three steps. This was beyond stupid.

That was a sentiment Chiyo shared. Upon hearing Emiko's words, Chiyo threw back her head and loosed a gale of raucous laughter.

"You? Fight me?" Chiyo said between snickers. "Oh, isn't this cute. I'll tell you what. Since I'm a loving senshi, I'll take just one your limbs. Which would you prefer? Your left arm? Your right? Perhaps a leg instead?"

I stepped forward, calling attention to myself.

"You are here for me, Chiyo," I growled. I shot a glance at the magical knight. "Emiko, get the hell out of here."

"S-Saotome-sama," Emiko protested weakly.

"Leave. Now. That's an order," I barked. "And don't tell anyone anything. Got it?"

Emiko nodded, her face pale. She turned to the side and took a step toward the stairs. _Whsst! Thung!_ In the blink of an eye a candy cane axe, half as long as I was tall, was embedded in a concrete wall. The shaft of the axe reverberated centimeters from Emiko's head. Across the hall, Chiyo smiled, her hand extended in a throwing motion.

"Now, now. I don't remember saying you could leave," Chiyo sang sweetly.

My hands tightened into fists. I stalked forward, my high heels sounding a staccato beat. I stopped within arms length of Chiyo and glared into her chocolate eyes. The two of us were nearly the same height, my taller heels giving me a slight edge.

"Let Emiko go, Chiyo," I said icily. "You didn't come here to play with bugs."

Chiyo tilted her head to the side. "I don't know," she wheedled. "I've always found squashing insects to be great fun. The way they wiggle and squirm, trying to scurry away on their broken limbs. The best part is how they keep twitching, still alive, glued to ground by their own guts."

With a huge, demonic grin, the girl pulled a second candy cane clip free. The ornament grew slowly. The haft thickened into a grip. The cute crook transformed into a cruel, double bladed hook. The blade's edge gleamed like steel.

My eyes returned to Chiyo.

"Would you rather play with her or me?" I challenged.

Chiyo set her axe against my cheek. The blade was warm and sharp. I stood still, fearless. If Chiyo wanted me dead, I would be dead. The woman was a monster, strong enough to make Saffron shiver and skilled enough to make Kodachi sweat.

I wasn't in her league.

Even if the choker was gone. Even if I was transformed. Even then the chances of victory would have been zero. The gap between us was too great. Raw spiritual power was a harsh mountain to climb. If I could not break Chiyo's aura, she remained invincible. To try would push me to my limits, leaving me void of strength – an invitation for counter attack.

It was hard to imagine what it would take to beat a demon like Chiyo, but triple teaming her with Saffron and Herb sounded like a good start.

"How terrible, asking me to choose," Chiyo cooed. She slid her axe across my face so the crook brushed against my neck. She paused and leaned to the side to peer behind me. "But, since the rat has already run, things are simple aren't they, dear?"

"I guess they are," I answered. The movement incurred by speaking caused the axe to bite. A tiny droplet began to worm its way across my flesh. "Since we are alone now, how about you tell me what you want?"

Chiyo's eyes shinned with glee. "What do I want? Oh. I love questions like that. I want so many things. Hmm..., where to begin? I know!" Chiyo leaned forward so that her nose nearly touched mine. "How about we finish what we started on the roof?"

My eyes narrowed. "The cocoon? That won't work. My spiritual matrix has crystallized. There is no changing my tenki now."

A bluff. One backed by fragments of truth. Frankly, I had no idea if Michiko's modifications had rendered me immune to Chiyo's cocoon. The theory was sound, but there were a boat load of unknowns involved.

"Oh? Is that what you think?" Chiyo said with false innocence. "And here I was planning to redo our tea party. But, since you brought it up, how about we give it a little test?" The sadistic girl waved a gloved finger under my nose and sweetly spoke her spell. "Cotton candy cocoon."

Thin threads of pink spiraled from the ground beneath me. The sticky strings wrapped around my legs in a thin shroud. The maw crept its way up, grabbing my waist. The attack was a hundred times slower than when she used it on the roof.

Chiyo was playing with me.

... No. I was wrong. It wasn't me she was playing with.

"Step away from Saotome," barked new voice.

Heavy steel boots clanged on cement. Mail armor rattled with each step. Gondul. The Valkyrie stopped half a dozen paces from us. In her right hand she held the almighty spear, Gungnir.

"Gondul!" Chiyo said cheerfully. "What a surprise, meeting you here."

Chiyo danced around me so that I was between her and the Valkyrie. She kept her axe pressed against my neck the whole time. Chiyo leaned against me, her petite breasts pressing into my back. In a playful gesture, she slung her free arm over my shoulder. Threads of cotton candy vanished into mist.

I turned my head carefully and hit the girl with a glare.

"Step away, Chiyo Mori," Gondul commanded a second time.

"Oh? And why should I do that?" Chiyo asked. "Saotome was mine first. Besides, she was just telling me how much she wanted to be a candy princess."

I gave an inelegant snort. "I don't belong to anyone."

"Don't say that, sweetie," Chiyo whispered into my ear. Her breath washed across my left cheek even as her axe dug into the right side of my neck. A wet tongue slithered along my earlobe leaving behind a cold chill. "You and I, we could have so much fun together. Two cute girls. There's no end to the games we could play," Chiyo breathed. "Or, if you don't swing that way anymore, there's always Hikaru. He's been so lonely without me."

I shivered. I was almost grateful when Gondul took two steps forward and her lowered spear into a ready position. The Valkyrie's feral eyes met mine, glimmering bloodlust buried within. Her gaze move past me and fixed on the foe dangling from my shoulder.

"I will not ask again," Gondul declared. Gungnir began to crackle as lighting played along its haft.

"Isn't this grand!" Chiyo laughed. "You are going to fight me. And here I was worried that the dog would heel to its master's orders."

Joyfully, Chiyo stepped back. Her axe blurred but failed to bite. Instead, the crook caught the band of my choker, severing it cleanly. The stone fell away and the flow of my ki normalized.

Suddenly I felt _alive_.

"Ranma-kun, I've changed my mind. What I want is to kill Gondul and her little dog too! You'll help, right?" Chiyo asked between cackles of mad delight.

I scratched at my neck while giving Chiyo a suspicious glance. She must have planned this from the start. But, choker gone or not, I was a long way from feeling comfortable with her at my back. My gaze shifted to Gondul. The Valkyrie's eyes met mine, awaiting my answer.

"Better than the Institute," I grunted. "One thing, though." I pointed at the giant spectral wolf that sat behind Gondul. "That is not a little dog."

Garmr chuckled, his deep, gravely voice booming off the chamber walls. "We meet again, slave girl. Will you impress upon me your worth? Or will you be crushed between my jaws?" he taunted. "Show to me your strength."

"Hold, Garmr, her life is not yours," Gondul interjected. Her feral eyes settled on me. "Saotome, do you impinge your honor by fighting with a traitor?"

I snorted. "Chiyo is far from my first choice, but I'll work with her if it means leaving the Institute."

Chiyo giggled gleefully. "See, Gondul? She chooses me."

"Silence, wretch!" Gondul roared. "You have gone too far, Chiyo. I will stay my hand no longer. You die today, as you should have died when you first set foot on the sacred grounds of Her Majesty."

A vile smile spread across Chiyo's lips. The pink dressed girl leaned forward. The air thrummed with the incredible pressure. "Beautiful. Beautiful. I've longed for this moment. The dog has slipped her leash. I knew it. It truly is best to kill you after you have betrayed the word of your master."

"I am no traitor, Chiyo. I merely act of my own accord. I will allow a treacherous snake near my Queen not a moment longer."

Jagged lightning gathered at Gungnir's tip. The bolts stretched from ground to ceiling. The weight of Gondul's power increased until it blanketed the tunnel in raw ki. Air screamed with the pressure as Chiyo amped her aura in turn. Wind poured out, buffeting my dress.

The Valkyrie hefted her spear, the point aimed at Chiyo's heart.

"Prepare yourself, Chiyo, for this is your end."

Chiyo ripped a candy cane clip from her hair. With a battle axe in each hand, the girl strutted forward. "A snake? How kind of you to say so. But your master is far more treacherous than I. Why, from the very moment we laid eyes upon one another, we have done nothing but plan how we would stab each other in the back."

_Bang!_

The chamber shuddered when Gondul released her power. Lightning, as broad as a tree's trunk, shot forth in a shimmering river of destruction. The blast slashed through Chiyo's shadow and crashed into the wall behind her. Stone liquefied, then exploded. Globs of white hot matter rained down. A haze rose from the bubbling magma, vaporous earth.

In the echo of electric light, Chiyo struck. Axes flew from her hands. Each of the candy cane blades split into a trio of tomahawks. The projectiles scattered wide then boomeranged in from odd angles. The Valkyrie's spear blurred so fast it divided in two, shattering a pair of candy cane axes in midair. Another flashed past, catching naught but wind, while a fourth broke on the Valkyrie's buckler. The last of the blades landed solid blows, only to be repelled by Gondul's mail shirt.

The cacophony of battle ensued, but I had no time to watch. The giant wolf, Garmr, hurtled at me from across the room. I dived to the right. Huge jaws snapped shut, dagger like teeth cutting through air I had occupied an instant earlier.

The beast's mighty head swung, thick muscles contracting around its neck. Garmr's mouth opened a second time, zeroing in on my position.

I jumped back and stumbled. Towering heels crimped the shift of my ankles, turning my dodge into a barely controlled fall. Panic was dashed by sputtering steps that gave me the last centimeter. The wolf's teeth raked the ruffles of my dress, hot breath – smelling of rotten meat – spilling over me.

I caught myself and danced away. Garmr hung back, a low mocking rumble rising from his throat. The creature stalked me with slow, padding steps, careless of the wanton destruction playing out behind.

"Entertain me, witch," Garmr said. The lips of the beast peeled back in what was either a wolfish smile or the threat of death.

I leaned to the side. Electric discharges and candied chunks whizzed by. The battle between Gondul and Chiyo had turned into a chase, Gondul in pursuit and Chiyo in flight. A sound tactic: Gungnir was at its most deadly when one was within its reach.

_Snap!_ I flashed to the side of Garmr's lunge, my inattentiveness a facade. Instead of biting again, the wolf reared up. A pair of paws descended, forcing me to fly around them. I dodged forward instead of back, slipping beneath the beast. Once there, I dipped low then snapped up with a mighty kick.

My foot hit vapor. Fur fled like fog, and I floated up through it. Shit! A ghost. I had but a moment to recognize my error before Garmr dissolved into silver flame. The cold fire warped around me only to reappear a meter away.

Yellow teeth flashed. A maw gaped wide, threatening to swallow me whole.

Crap! I twisted in mid air, slinging my legs in a wide spiral. The crook of my heels, imbued with glowing ki, caught on the creature's lip. Surging force shoved me backward. I kicked off, adding to my velocity.

_Whssh!_ I undulated around a candy-cane axe a millisecond too slow. The blade slashed through my dress and cut a coin's width into my flesh.

I pivoted in the air, touched down, and jumped for the ceiling. Garmr crashed upon my wake, crushing cement as though it were sand. The beast rose up, impossibly fast. It chased me into the air, accelerating as it ran. I bounced off the roof a second ahead. The ghost hound slammed into my prior position, melted through stone, then pushed off as though it were a fish in water.

Damn. I couldn't win like this. I needed a game changer.

I needed tenki.

Thought froze. Tenki? Why did that- No. Don't think. Do.

But could it be done?

A month ago, tenki would have been the height of madness. Now? Freed from the choker, my aura flowed strong. I dominated the zone around me with my fighting spirit. But the nature of that spirit had changed. Confidence was laced with beauty. Without thought or effort, I exuded a megami no ooi by far surpassing my first.

It could be done.

Garmr haunted my heels while I continued my rapid retreat. I zigged and zagged, using my lighter mass and greater acceleration to my advantage. Always I stayed a single misstep from looming death.

Surrounded by destruction and caught in brutal battle, I turned my focus inward.

Stillness came first. My aura calmed, the rage of combat fading. The purity of my spirit deepened, and the faint lavender glow surrounding me softened into pink. I recalled my most hateful memories. The icy clamp of metal on my brow. Frigid eyes that watched while my pride broke. Pieces of me fading away, sold to the devil for another shot at victory. My spirit broken. Helplessness. Frustration. Hatred.

_Crawl_.

Artemis's voice echoed in my ears.

With it, I created haigeki.

I burned. Raging fire washed through my veins. But this time it did not sear flesh or cook organs. Instead, it cleansed. Dirt and grime were turned to ash. Sickness was expunged and foreign magic expelled. The ache of my muscles eased, as though I were relaxing in a bath.

It felt _good_.

Reality interrupted pleasure. Garmr's jaws crashed down, nearly ripping me in half. I threw myself to the side then redoubled my focus.

I seized upon shuken. The tiara torn free. My first step through the Institute's gates. The roar of ki and confidence. The taste of freedom. I drenched myself in those emotions. Shuken flowed like ice. It numbed pain, cured wounds, and restored perfection.

I transformed.

Haigeki and shuken twined around one another and burst into sparkling light. My dress puffed as the magic passed through it. Pinks spread like water. Black thread wove through the surface, forming a pattern of jagged, tessellated hearts. Ribbons, ruffles, and lace burst into existence.

I twirled in the air, cute streamers chasing my movements. My hair whipped behind me, lengthening into a pair of silky ponytails. I landed lightly on the ground and skated across its surface. Nimbleness was restored. Magic cast aside the laws of physics allowing an agility the defied the clothing I wore. Garmr crashed down beside me, his neck extending in a bite. Shuken kicked in, and I evaded with angelic elegance, sliding around his attack with effortless grace.

I found myself at Garmr's side, my aura surging with the incredible energies of my transformation. The beast twisted to face me. He was too slow. My feet slid into a stance and heels suddenly found perfect traction. I stopped on a dime, my hips rotating to impel all my momentum into my fist. Ikisasu, enhanced by haigeki, coated the limb. A blazing pink meteor shot out.

_Boom!_

The ki-punch exploded on impact. Garmr's ribs cratered. Flesh, fur, and muscle were blown away. The giant wolf was blasted across the room. He tumbled in midair, his paws scrambling to gain grip. Then Garmr caught himself. His body slowed, and the wolf righted.

"Tenshi Osakebi!" I yelled.

A torrent of power roared through my arms and pooled between my hands. All the excess energies of tenki were let loose. A brilliant beam of pink lanced through the tunnel, catching Garmr just as he faced me. The wolf howled as he was tossed back a second time. The creature hit the ground and rolled, blurring under Gondul. The Valkyrie skillfully jumped her mount while unleashing a javelin of lighting.

_Bang!_

By chance agreement, the fight came to a halt.

"Do not toy with your enemy, Garmr," Gondul reprimanded. "Saotome is a warrior and should be treated as such. But do not dare to slay her. The Director's wrath would be magnificent."

Garmr stood and shook his silver coat. Blood and bone lay exposed, flayed open by my magic. But the beast did not mind. His lupine smile grew wider as he faced me. Silver flame licked the torn skin, knitting ghostly flesh. Mortal wounds were washed away in a handful of seconds.

"I fight as I wish, Chooser. As I always have. As I always will," the giant wolf retorted. "This witch has proven herself interesting. It may be that I enjoy myself so much that I forget about you. So take care that you do not die."

"How wonderful. Ranma-chan has _finally_ transformed. That means we can start things in earnest," Chiyo interjected teasingly. The adorable girl had a white parasol in her right hand and a candy axe in her left. "But let us get some swinging room first? That way our fights won't get mixed up."

Gondul froze, tension flowing down her steel clad form. "You wouldn't dare."

Chiyo's cute smile turned malicious. She twirled her parasol. The frilled umbrella shed an unholy light. "Starlight starfall."

_Boom!_

The ceiling trembled. Lights flickered and dust rained down. _Boom!_ Another thud. _Boom! Boom! Boo-Bo-B-B-B-Boom!_ Explosions thundered in rapid succession. The underground chamber shook. Girders rattled. Rows of lights went dim. Glass tubes crashed to the ground.

_Thoom!_ A ball tore through the roof. A bright blue gobstopper cratered the earth. It was big, too wide to wrap my arms around.

_Ka-boom!_

Shrapnel shot off in every direction. Shuken kicked in. Spider like threads formed from thin air. They wove themselves into a checkered tapestry of black and white. The cloth acted as a steel wall. Tiny fragment dimpled the surface. Larger hunks tore through. My hands blurred to intercept.

Awareness caught up with magic. Huh? Since when did-

_Boo-boo-b-boom!_

Tch! Fight now. Think later.

The gobstopper hail continued. Giant spheres of red, white, and green pierced the ceiling. Candy shrapnel ricocheted throughout the chamber, shattering glass and shredding every surface.

Steel buckled. The roof fell.

I raised my hands to meet it. "Tenshi osakebi!"

I screamed the attack, channeling maximum power. Pink light gushed from my hands. Perfected spirit, roaring with the destructive chaos of haigeki, rammed through falling earth. Stone splintered. Dirt was shoved aside.

Into the gap, I jumped.

Cloaked in shuken I ascended through the tunnel dug by my magic. Broken hunks of road, pipes, and mounds of earth rained down around me. I climbed the falling solids like stairs, pushing upward with all my will. Reality bent to my whim, impelled by the dominion of shuken. Daylight opened for me.

I was out.

I flew into the sky, my velocity so great that I rose five stories above the sinking ground. My eyes flitted over the battle field. Six lanes of intersection had collapsed into the underground. Tall buildings stood gutted, their faces ripped open by a rain of candy meteors. Crushed cars were tossed about like toys, chassis smashed and windows broken.

The heart of Tokyo had become a warzone. Yet, the streets remained silent.

At the battle's edge, half a dozen girls ran interference. Kodachi stood astride a flipped eighteen wheeler. She laughed manically while spraying a stream of liquorice bullets into the engine of a vehicle stupid enough to circumvent her barricade.

But it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. Unless everything in a hundred meters had been evacuated, the casualties would be enormous.

My body reached its peak. I glided down, sailing on the puffs of my dress. My hand snapped out and glasses appeared between my fingers. I slapped them over my nose then pounded the rims, cycling through the selection menu until I reached aura mode.

I found it not a second too soon. Unhindered by the rubble rose a giant wolf cast in ghostly red.

A nasty smile spread across my lips.

Garmr burst from the earth. A pair of pink bullets met him head on. In a flash, the wolf dived to the side. The first lance struck rock, unleashing a puff of dust and rubble. The second bolt, hidden in the light of the first, struck home. Garmr's forehead bowed causing the wolf to stumble. Bone peeked through silvery flames before vanishing into fur.

I touched down a meter away. Garmr shook his head then dashed forward. Giant teeth gnashed on empty space. I slid beneath, passing under the wolf's body. I twisted as I ran, my leg lashing out to catch Garmr's hind ankle. The joint shattered.

The beast hardly cared.

The wolf's rear kicked up. The hinds rose even as the snout twisted down and below. Yellow teeth surrounded me left and right. Garmr's jaw crashed down, delivering certain death.

It caught my shadow.

Shuken cracked. Burning splinters of pink were shed in my wake. Truth was overwritten by illusion. I was no longer between Garmr's teeth. Instead, I floated just out of reach, my heels centimeters above the ground after a perfectly timed hop.

"Tenshi osakebi!"

My hands recoiled as though I had fired a cannon. I tumbled back, bright light obscuring my vision. I blinked then caught sight of Garmr as he slammed into the wall of a nearby building. The monstrous wolf pulled himself to his feet and lunged anew. A chance gobstopper blew through Garmr's chest, driving him to the ground.

_Boom. Boom. Boom._

The explosions continued. Stray bits of candy slipped through the frayed edges of my shuken. Sharp pains cut along my shoulder, chest, and face. The continuous barrage allowed no cover. I gritted my teeth and gathered my will. My fragmented aura solidified. Nothing more made it through.

The ground beneath me exploded.

Jagged, swords of electricity ripped through the dirt. Static ran through my legs, and my hairs stood on end. The earth heaved upward. I was thrown into the sky. The elegance of shuken overwhelmed my surprise. My balance did not falter. I pushed off, flipped once, then landed atop a light pole ten meters away.

Standing in the smoking crater was Gondul. With one hand she held aloft a hunk of road that massed more than I could bear. With almost casual ease, the Valkyrie tossed the rock aside. The crumbling concrete shattered on impact.

With relief, I glanced back to find Chiyo. The cute demon danced among the broken stones while twirling her parasol. She twisted and turned, gazing upon the shattered battlefield with a smile of delight.

The slow thud of falling gobstoppers petered out.

My eyes flickered to Garmr. The wolf leered at me with his wolfish grin. With a giant hind paw, he scratched behind his ear.

"Oh," Chiyo breathed. The girl stretched her arms and arched her back. "This is so much better. Now we can throw our strength around to our heart's content. Don't worry about the civilians, my girls are taking care of it. If they missed a few? He-he-ha-ha!" Chiyo's laughter turned from giggles to mad guffaws. "That'll just make things even more exciting!"

Gondul grunted and gripped Gungnir with both hands. "Despicable. It is a warrior's pride to kill only those intended. But if it is to slay you, Chiyo, I would gladly wade through a sea of corpses."

Chiyo tossed her parasol aside. The discarded umbrella dissolved into nothingness. With her now freed hand, she whipped out a second candy cane axe.

Chiyo's grin spread until it threatened to split her face in two. "You say the most wonderful things, Gondul. Now die!"

Chiyo slashed with both hands, unleashing waves of distorted air. Gungnir swished twice and split the wind in two. Like elastic bands the vacuum blades sprang apart. The curling whirlwinds slammed into the buildings beyond. Steel and concrete exploded, flayed open by a quartet of gargantuan blades.

Neither of the two paid it any mind.

In a flowing motion, Chiyo flew back, the angle of her arc defying gravity. Dozens of projectiles rained down as she fled. Gondul chased after, her feral eyes gleaming with delight. Candy shattered all around her. The axes broke upon her spear, shield, and armor. The earth liquefied in Gondul's wake, a swamp of stone formed by the thousand blades that cut it apart.

"Aroooo! A-a-roooo!"

Garmr howled. My chest shook. Gravel danced at my feet, and windows rattled in their casings. The sound dwarfed all others. Even the battle between Chiyo and Gondul was silent before its might.

_Arooo! A-a-rooooo!_ An echo. That was my first thought. Then I saw them, hundreds of spectral wolves. They stepped out from every shadow in bursts of silver light. The mass padded forward, forming a line five deep. The army stretched across all six lanes of intersection.

Garmr lowered his head. The colossal beast let out a deep, reverberating chuckle. "The hunt begins, witch. Do not disappoint."

The pack rolled forward, a swarm of gray ghosts that rippled over the terrain like a blanket. Towering above it all was Garmr, huge and massive, yet far smaller than the pack combined.

Oh shit.

In less than a second, they were on me. Scores of wolves pounced. They struck at my ankles. They leapt high to rip out my throat. They circled around and nipped at my calves. Not a gram of flesh was left unchallenged. Deadliest of all was Garmr. His maw broad enough to swallow me whole. His teeth tough enough to tear through steel. His jaw an arcane force that could shatter my shuken.

Drowning in a sea of wolves, I fought.

Bright light fanned out. My tenshi osakebi cut like a sword, slicing through a cone of wolves. Ectoplasm was rent in a shower of transparent blood. I whirled onward, unable to observe. With fists and feet I lashed out. Spines snapped, skulls cracked, and wolves were sent flying in every direction.

Only to be reborn from silver flame.

It was an endless mass of immortal ghosts. No amount of skill or speed was enough. Hungry jaws clamped down, tearing away splinters of pink light. Shuken faded with every second, false law giving way to a world that sought my destruction.

_Crunch! _Garmr's maw closed on my head. I evaded by a bare millimeter. My hands flashed out in a blur, smacking three wolves from the air. Teeth sank into my ankle. The sudden weight caused my dancing steps to falter. A dozen wolves lunged. I ripped my foot free and span away. Brilliant light blasted out, smashing the wave from the sky. But it was too late. The hungry hoard piled on, dragging me to the ground.

Wolves bit down, seizing flesh and grasping cloth. With their teeth, they sought to keep me pinned. I rolled. Ten wolves rolled with me. With my right arm, I heaved, dragging the beast clamped onto my elbow into the air. Its teeth tore from the wound, leaving behind ripped flesh and dribbling blood.

Crap. Crap. Crap. I jolted to my feet, ghostly bodies hanging off me in a mass of silver fur. Through sheer stubbornness, I focused. _Get off!_ Pain transformed into haigeki. Raw, unfocused will expanded in every direction. Lupine jaws melted. The wolves were blasted away.

I shuddered and slumped. Air wheezed in and out of my lungs.

_Move!_

Weary muscles threw me into the air.

The wolf pack charged after me, bound to the ground by unknown limits. I retreated higher, utilizing the terrain to amplify my leap. Garmr ascended with me, too far back to halt my escape. Instead, the beast angled to cut me off then drive me to the ground.

Bare seconds were bought with my retreat. I breathed and calmed myself. A plan. I needed a plan. Come on, Ranma, a plan. Ideas flashed through my head. A mad notion caught. I gazed down once more. A legion of wolves waited, their slim mouths slicked with saliva.

Stupid. Mad. Completely nuts. But, it could work. I would make it work. I had to.

I had nothing else.

With a sudden jolt, I touched down. A stiletto heel drove itself into the back of a leaping wolf, sending it crashing to the ground. Arc altered, I flew amongst the aerial ghosts, rebounding between them in a deadly display of acrobatics.

Then I was amongst the pack.

I abandoned haigeki. I beat down the slavering horde with fists and feet. Punches were used to knock wolves aside. Kicks existed to drive back the pack. A fragile ikisasu was my only offense, and that barely enough to contact ghostly flesh. Every effort was focused on retreat, and all the ki I saved was devoted to shuken.

The world bent to power of my law.

A defensive battle cannot be won. I knew that. Garmr knew that. The great silver beast haunted the sky, a hunter biding its time. Soon enough, the prey would grow weak. That would be the time to pounce.

And, while he waited, I drew everything into a circle.

It was madness. Hot did not collide with cold. The laws of nature did not side with me. But I had shuken. Sovereignty. The power to impose illusion over truth. Into that power, I poured my ki. And through it, I established dominion. For the briefest moment, the world became mine. I was god almighty. With that power, I laid down a new law.

The frozen auras of the spectral wolves would be drawn into the tightening spiral.

With a final step, I arrived at the center of the churning energies.

"Hiryu shoten ha!"

I swung my fist in an uppercut. The blow pierced the heart of the whirling magics. Rise, I commanded. Rise up, and tear my foes to bits.

Ki was sucked from my body with such suddenness that I nearly fell to my knees. The air trembled. The battlefield went silent.

Nothing.

No wind. No movement. Weak and weary I stood at the center. The wolves rushed in as one. The mass blurred into a wave of gray. I readied myself for the tsunami.

It never reached.

The throng slammed into a wall of ribbon. The threads captured everything. Ghostly wolves fought to free themselves from the tangles. It was useless. This was not mass of lifeless string, but rather a swarm of serpents.

Gravity vanished. Wind exploded. Everything was dragged into heaven.

I tumbled through the air, the gale buffeting my clothes and hair. Compared to the hiryu shoten ha, this was a breeze. Yet, in the unnatural gravity, it felt a dozen times stronger. An angry tornado formed around me. Dirt and stone were swallowed alike. The whirling debris gathered at the edges in a cloudy mass of spinning death.

Pink light crackled. Energy surged down ropes of black and white. A second burst echoed from the tornado's heart. The wind whistled with greater strength.

I stared in shock. What had I created?

This was no hiryo shoten ha. The two techniques shared only the barest elements. The enemy's strength drawn in. A whirling mass of energy driven upward. But this was not a weather phenomenon. This was distorted law. A false realm cut through the heart of reality. Shuken made manifest. A monstrous spiral that devoured everything.

All around me, spectral wolves whined and whimpered. Tiny threads cut into their skin, sinking into fur and flesh like the roots of a giant plant. With pulsing gulps, the threads drank misty energy. Then, when the mass became great enough, each thread unleashed a bolt of pink lighting. The stolen energy cascaded back into the heart of the storm empowering it further.

I was floating in the gullet of dragon. Disgusted, I named my technique. Tenkui ryu. Heaven eating dragon. A magic only a demon would use.

_Danger_.

Shuken reacted before awareness. Black thread exploded from my wrists. String became ribbon, and ribbon a kite. A sudden gust caught the sail, jerking me so hard that my arms were all but ripped from their sockets. A wave of flails, pikes, and halberds tore through my afterimage.

Garmr. He, my tenkui ryu did not devour. The great wolf charged through the storm unheeded. Thick ropes and long threads were coiled around his limbs. With mighty muscles, he pushed through, snapping string with every step. The beast's head twisted to the side. With a single bite Garmr devoured one of the wolf minions. Then he turned his enormous maw toward me and spat a spread of spectral weaponry.

A new surge of wind dragged me up and away. Shuken nearly fractured. If I continued to rely on it alone, I would be stripped of my defense in seconds.

Garmr's laughter boomed over the whirlwind. "Come, witch! I will not be defeated by a spell as weak as this."

"I figured that," I shouted back, my voice filled with false confidence. "But, a girl can hope, can't she?"

The tenkui ryu had achieved more than I had expected. Garmr's minions were out of the game. But that, at best, evened the field. Right now, I was suspended a hundred meters in the air. There were no surfaces to push off of. There was no cover to hide behind. All my mobility stemmed from an unguided kite.

Odds like that weren't to my liking. I needed to turn this into a melee. If I stuck it out at a range, I would end up in little Ranma bits.

"I am Garmr, son of Fenrir, guardian of Hel's gates. If I am bound, the shackles will break. If I die, I will be reborn. When I howl, even the gods tremble, witch," Garmr roared. "Show to me your worst. Tear my flesh. Shatter my soul. Bloody my coat until its sheen shines scarlet. Strike me as much as you wish, witch, and through it all I will laugh. Laugh, then crush your fragile bones between my teeth."

Garmr's booming taunts paused when his head swung to and fro. With five bites, he swallowed as many wolves. Then the colossal monster faced me once more. Huge, golden eyes glared upward. Silver flame seethed through the monster's teeth.

Garmr opened his maw.

The wolf's throat was an infinite abyss, illuminated by white flame. In that hell, a hoard of weapons were forged. Swords longer than I was tall. Arrows, more numerous than those unleashed by an army. Spears and javelins, tipped with sharp points and wicked barbs. Every weapon wielded by mankind was disgorged – a storm of destructive implements, any one of which could slay me outright.

I needed no more than a glance to see my death reflected in the steel sheen.

Cold calculation was followed by instant decision. My methods had to change. I could no longer let magic wield itself. To escape this doom, I needed more than a guiding hand and a gentle will. I needed to take control.

And that meant, in turn, I needed to let it control me.

For the first time, I embraced shuken. I let the magic fill my thoughts as well as my soul. I allowed it to contaminate my skill and taint it with inefficient elegance. I surrendered to fancy. And, in doing so, I saw a path.

Magic whirled around me. Black ribbons, trimmed with white lace, rippled from the back of my dress. Two kites caught the wind. Left, I thought. Wind whisked in response, dragging me five meters away. I danced through the air, a beautiful ballerina pirouetting through the clouds. Knives and swords flashed by, kissing my flesh.

Another gust. I jerked again, this time eight meters down. A thousand lines of ribbons pranced at my side. In their coils, they caught spectral weapons, smashing them from the air or skewing their aim. I snagged a claymore as a I flew, my airfoils dragging me deep into the gap.

_C-clang. _Metal crashed upon metal. I whirled through the swarm of death, deflecting weapons with the spectral sword.

Then it passed.

The kites disintegrated. Ribbons rewove. In their place formed a pair of silky wings. I twisted effortlessly in midair. There was no learning curve. Shuken made dream into reality. Here, in my realm, even the tiniest details obeyed my expectations.

I sighted Garmr, then plummeted.

The wolf charged through the depths of the tornado, snapping up all the minions within his reach. Between bites, he spat out shotguns of death.

Tch!

I rolled in response, my body cutting a wide curve that mimicked flight. The first blast I dodged cleanly. But, in the vanishing distance, the four that followed could not be evaded so easily. With a glance, I calculated a hundred trajectories. I angled my descent so that I would pass through the least of the chaff.

Faced with an endless storm of death, I willed a new truth. Imagination took form. A spindles of twine swung out in elegant loops. The threads coiled around the hilts of flying weapons. I spread my arms and the puppets came to life. Magic yielded to them impossible skill. My skill. Garmr's weapons became a wall of spectral steel that denied everything.

The fourth wave hit.

A dozen spears slashed through my aura. Porous shuken unraveled. Suddenly, I was bereft. Flight turned into fall. Threads vanished into mist. I tumbled desperately. Arrows skimmed my limbs. Spinning swords slashed as they passed. Scores of knives pierced my shadow. With blurring hands, I cast the weapons aside.

_Pain_. A blade slipped through. A ghostly knife cut into my collar. The shock slowed my movements. Only instinct saved me from the javelin that followed.

I flashed over Garmr's head. The wolf turned to face me, his throat glowing with impending death. The last of my ribbons went taught. My fall came to a sudden stop. Instead, I traversed an elongated curve.

I smirked and swung my legs to add to the motion. I've got you now, mutt.

My curving loop turned into an orbit. In an instant, I was at Garmr's height again. Then above. Then at his side. Then below. Around and around. Faster and faster. Garmr's head twisted to keep up, but with each pass my velocity increased, and the threads binding him became more numerous.

_Thud_.

I smashed into Garmr's back with a force so great it knocked the breath from my lungs. With my diaphragm seizing, I snagged a pair of ropes. With those reins, I secured my position.

I took a few breaths and regained my center. "You know, it is pretty comfortable up here."

Garmr bucked beneath me casting me a meter from my seat. I dragged myself back down. My collar cried out in pain from the sudden force.

"Dismount me, witch," Garmr howled.

"Ha. You will have to heel first, mutt. A dog serves its master. I'm looking forward to having a flying wolf," I taunted gleefully.

"Tame me?" Garmr growled. The beast whirled in midair, fighting against the ropes entrapping it. "Greater than you have tried."

Solid matter turned to vapor. I slipped through a sea of silver flame. Garmr's shadowed form flickered above me, still wrapped in thread. The ghost hound twisted. His mouth rematerialized. He bit down.

I plunged. Yellowed teeth caught a trailing pigtail. I lurched briefly, but the silky hair slid through the gaps like water. I fell further, the string tying me to Garmr expanding with my will. I tightened my body, ready to fling myself into another spiral.

Garmr moved first.

With perfect timing the wolf stepped back. The great mass surged through the ribbon, jerking me into the air. Garmr lunged for my rising body, the curve of my arc drawing me into his jaws.

My threads stretched again. Maintained velocity increased the distance between us. Garmr's bite fell short. But the defense came at cost. The renewed slack prevented my counter attack. Garmr seized upon that moment to spew a wave of spectral weapons.

Wings exploded from my back. Sudden wind caught their surface. At the same time, my ribbons tightened. I jerked and my trajectory changed so that I orbited to Garmr's right. I strengthened my grip and readied to reel myself in.

Ice crawled down my spine. _Death_.

An ominous power brewed below. The presence was suffocating. _Die. Die. Die._ The air itself seemed to howl those words. Terror squeezed out all thought leaving me with instinct. I let go, severing my ribbons. Tangential velocity remained. My flight continued, sending me tumbling through the walls of my tenkui ryu and out into open air.

Heaven was torn open.

A shroud of dark clouds filled the sky. The heart had been ripped out. Left behind was a tunnel of roiling black, an eye of a hurricane. Crackling blue rippled over the wall of spinning clouds. Rolling thunder shook the atmosphere and rattled my bones.

With each passing second the magic grew greater. My eyes were drawn to the source. Gondul. The Valkyrie stood amongst a sea of sticky pink. Her spear was missing, and her hand was held high as though to grip the sky.

Her arm fell.

From heaven poured a waterfall of lightning, a ceaseless river that rushed through the crook of my tenkui ryu. The torrent was broader than a building and brighter than the sun. At its center lay Chiyo, pinned to the rock by the spear piercing her gut.

_BOOM!_

The sound was a hammer. It smashed me from the sky. My tumbling flight turned erratic. I span, deaf and blind. Sudden force crashed through my shoulder. I bounced off the concrete roof, tumbled a few more times, then plunged to the side streets below.

_Black._

Darkness swallowed my vision. Pain pulsed from my numbed arm and collar. A shrill siren pierced my muddled ears. Dazed, I shook my head. I rolled and fell from the roof of a sedan. Shattered autoglass crunched under my heels. My knees all but gave way. I seized the car's door and held it for balance. Slowly, the world stopped its wobbling.

With blurry eyes, I gazed upon the devastation.

Buildings towered over me, vast monsters torn open. Their ribs were exposed and their organs sloughed onto the streets. Holes and craters peppered everything. Twisted beams of steel jutted out, their frames torn by long trenches. It was a wonder that these skeletons had yet to crumble.

At my feet were roads of rubble. Dark smoke rolled off smoldering asphalt. The streets glowed orange, stone melted into a slurry of heated liquid. A wispy tornado twisted through background. It flashed pink as energy crackled within.

My ears popped. Hearing returned. Car alarms cried out in an infinite choir. Siren howled over the cacophony, emergency vehicles rushing down hidden streets. The wind let out a throaty roar as my tenkui ryu continued its endless whirl. Choppers circled above unleashing a heavy _thud thud thud_.

Shit! Chiyo

With a lurch, my brain rebooted. I shot out of the side streets and onto the battlefield. There, I found the worst. Gondul ripped Gungnir from Chiyo's gut. Blood and intestines poured from the wound. Chiyo stumbled back. With a mad smile, the girl stabbed a parasol into the ground. With a shaking hand, she raised her battle axe.

Wounded and weakened, Chiyo didn't stand a chance. Gungnir's law neutralized the defensive aspects of shuken. In hand-to-hand, the victor was certain. Chiyo was good. Gondul was a master. The next blow would end things.

And if Chiyo lost, I lost.

Gondul was not invincible. Unlike Chiyo, she could not stomp out the possibility of defeat with raw power. But that made little difference. In terms of skill, Gondul was my match. In terms of strength, she surpassed me. In terms of armaments, Gondul had Gungnir.

Victory here would not be a lucky stroke. It would be a miracle. So, should I fight or flee?

A simple choice. The answer was obvious. My pride was broken. I had no need to prove myself here. Instead, I was left with fear. Loss meant returning to the Institute. That hell would destroy me. As for Chiyo? Let her die. That girl was a cold blooded murderess drunk on power. The world would not mourn her loss. I had half a mind to kill her myself.

Yet, where would it end? Gondul and Garmr would be no weaker a year from now. In ten, they would be backed by an army. Artemis would never stop her hunt. I believed Kamiko when she said that.

Fool. That was the same reasoning that had led me to fight Chiyo on the rooftops. There was nothing to be gained by-

My breath froze. I looked upon the world new eyes. Chiyo had defected. Gondul and Garmr faced us in battle. The three – no four – strongest fighters in the Institute were gathered upon the same battlefield. If Chiyo lived, if Gondul was defeated, if Garmr died, if any of these things came to pass, everything changed.

This was an opportunity worth dieing for.

My choice was made.

I sprang forward, flying across molten earth with unfaltering grace. I rushed Gondul outright, the destructive power of haigeki coiling between my hands.

"Tenshi osakebi!"

The pulse blindsided the Valkyrie. Gondul slid two meters to the side before digging her feet into the earth. She whirled to meet me, her spear snapping into position. It was a millisecond too late. I smashed into her like a charging bull.

Surprise tore Gondul from the ground. While she floated in midair, I focused inward. Ki responded to will, and, with all my might, I rejected Gungnir's law. Gondul touched down, her hands shortening their grip on her weapon. I didn't give her the chance. I stepped forward and unleashed waves of blows that pummeled her face.

The rush held for a second. Then the tides turned. Still reeling from the repeated blows Gondul thrust with her spear, then cleared the area with wild swings. I surrendered the offense without care. This was not a fight. This was a stalling tactic.

Chiyo was the instrument of Gondul's doom. The girl was injured now, but shuken would vanish her wounds as surely as mine. If I could hold Gondul long enough, Chiyo would be back in the fight. I didn't have to win. I just had to survive.

Survive and pray Garmr did not show up. If the wolf made an appearance, all hope would be lost.

Gondul grunted, her eyes gleaming with the want for blood. She surged upon my retreat in a storm of death. Thrusts fell like rain, and Gungnir blurred into lightning. My eyes watered from strain of keeping track. My hands moved so fast it seemed I had a dozen arms. Time and again, I beat back the spear's tip. With mad stubbornness, I pressed inward. I couldn't let Gondul retreat. Focus onme, I willed her.

Seconds ticked by. Air seared my lungs. Blood drained from my arms in dribbles. The knife wound at my collar, long since sealed, burned. Slowly, I was driven back. Already we had crossed half the intersection. But every motion made my win more solid. Then, with a smirk, it became assured.

As skilled as Gondul was, there were limits to her motion. I knew the timing of her strokes. I knew what techniques had to follow others. It was a matter of time before she made the set I had been waiting for. Three thrusts, each longer than the last. Retreat or die. The technique came at a cost. In exchange for the third thrust Gondul paid the price of a slower withdraw.

That tiny gap was all I needed. I threw myself into it.

The opening closed in an instant. Gungnir flew forward. I swayed to the side while pressing inward. The blade scrapped against my ribs, cutting flesh and drawing blood. My foot slammed into place. Position achieved.

A tenth of a second, that was all I had before Gondul adjusted her grip for the reduced range. A blink of an eye. In that moment, my aura changed. Shuken bent to my will, and threads flowed from my wristlets. The spindly strings coiled around the spear's haft, trapping it in a cradle of magic rope.

Gondul paused and considered, Gungnir still extended. I gave a cheeky grin. The Valkyrie returned a grunting laugh. In a flash, she jerked back and stabbed forward. I flowed with the motion, shifting the spear so that its thrust went well to my side.

"Please. You didn't honestly think that would work, did you?" I said, rolling my eyes.

Gondul's amusement faded. She swung Gungnir up. With effortless strength I was tossed into the air. The Valkyrie spun then slammed me into the ground. I twisted at the last moment, landing square on my feet. The only thing that had changed were the sides we were facing.

"Fighting an opponent intent only on defense is... irritating," Gondul observed. She made no effort to hide the distaste that flavored her voice.

"It's not exactly my favorite way of doing things, either," I admitted. "But beggars can't be choosers."

Gondul glared, her eyes sharper than steel. "Tell me, Saotome. Why do you fight? What drives you to turn your back on the Director?"

"Turn my back on the Director? The Director turned her back on me," I spat without thinking. I reeled. Those were _my _feelings? I shook my head and cast the emotions aside. "I never agreed to serve Artemis. I owe that woman nothing."

Gondul's feral eyes glinted with rage. The woman stepped forward and thrust with all her strength. Twine tightened on Gungnir's shaft, and I rode the momentum backward. The blade kissed flesh but pierced nothing.

"We are warriors, you and I," Gondul thundered. "Blades to be wielded by a worthy lord. The Director has claimed you. She has granted you your rightful place as senshi, knight of the Queen. Do you deny this, Saotome? Do you deny your station? Do you cast aside both duty and honor?"

"I'm a martial artist, not a samurai," I growled back. "Which means a lot less doing what I'm told and a lot more doing what I want."

_Swish, swish, stab. _Gondul dragged me side-to-side then tried to skewer me. I mirrored her motions perfectly, allowing Gungnir no more than a centimeter of give.

"And so you side with Chiyo Mori."

"As if Artemis has a monopoly on morality," I retorted. "Frying pan, fire, and all that jazz. After a month in the Institute, the fire has started looking pretty damn cozy."

"You choose treachery for no gain but your own?" Gondul roared back.

The Valkyrie stepped in and swung her shielded arm. I leaned back, narrowly avoiding the blow. A side swipe followed. I lifted my arms. _Glung_. The haft of Gondul's spear rang when it met the edge of her shield.

Gondul smashed me back with the broad face of her shield. Gungnir crackled. Cringing, I extended my ribbons and smashed the spear's tip into the ground. The lightning dispersed safely.

"No gain but my own?" I snorted in answer. "I can think of a hell of lot of people who would gain from Artemis's death. What about you Gondul? You talk of honor but I hear nothing of right and wrong. Will you stand aside while Artemis murders innocent girls? Will you lend a hand when she slaughters humanity? Honor that begets evil is worth less than trash."

"It is not a warrior's place to question!" Gondul's voice echoed with her fury.

"Yeah, well, like I told you, martial artist," I explained. "We're big on the whole questioning thing."

Gungnir jerked up, tearing through stone as though it were sand. The blade slashed through my dress but failed to touch skin. I rolled to the side, shortening the threads while sliding the loop down the spear's haft. I lashed out. A high kick flashed past Gondul's head. The Valkyrie countered by crashing into me. I tumbled to the ground, rolled, then regained my footing just in time to divert Gungnir's thrust.

Gondul paused in her assault. "Tell me, Saotome. Are you senshi?"

My mouth opened. Words froze in my throat. _Th-thud_. A pulse ran through my head, and a purplish color washed over the world. Dizziness took hold of me. I dared not let it show. I stayed stalwart while my senses recovered, a pounding headache drowning out all pain.

"Answer me, Saotome," Gondul demanded. "Are you senshi? Do you deny that Her majesty is your lord and master?"

I grit my teeth. "Artemis is not my queen."

"Then who do you serve, warrior? Name for me your master."

Gondul stood tall, her body a seething mountain of strength. Her spirit smothered mine. The air grew so thick I could barely breath. Despite myself, I stood tall and matched her fury.

"I am my own master."

Gondul stilled. "I see my words fall on deaf ears. If parley does not suffice, I shall settle this with arms."

"You can try," I retorted. I gave a broad smirk. "But I won't make it easy."

"Your tactics define your defeat," Gondul replied, utterly calm. "You enter battle with no intent beyond defense. So, from hence forth, I shall fight with reckless disregard."

An eager smile spread across the Valkyrie's face. Static crawled through my dress. The air between us grew thicker. An incredible weight pressed down. Light faded into shadow. The sky rumbled.

She wouldn't... She was standing next to me.

"Hear these words, Saotome. You condemn my honor. You proclaim my path unjust. I say upon you, likewise. A soldier without a lord is no better than a brigand. When you raise arms, you sow chaos. When you take your daily bread, you grant famine. In your wake, you leave nothing but suffering. Your kind is a plague. A plague to be scoured from this earth."

Gondul raised her spear and the sky tore open. Twirling clouds cut a tunnel between Heaven and Earth. In that rent Thor and Jupiter awaited, their arms loose and ready to throw.

"Know this," she proclaimed. "What I mete is divine justice. I shall break you upon my knee and teach you to kneel!"

_Bang!_

The suddenness left me startled. An axe, not thunder, cracked. The candy weapon shattered upon Gondul's hastily raised buckler and splinters of sugar flashed past my head. Chiyo stepped in, bringing her second axe to bear. The Valkyrie scrambled back. Her attention was divided. Her eyes locked onto the newest threat.

An opening.

Action proceeded thought. The threads binding my right hand wilted. My left arm swept to the side, dragging the spear wide of my body. I reached forward. My palm settled on Gondul's face. In slow motion, I saw the twist of her expression. She moved to counter.

_Tenshi Osakebi_. My arm recoiled. Gondul's head blew back. Her body followed.

The Valkyrie hit the ground in a tight roll. She flipped once then sprang to her feet. I did not pursue. My arm was numb. My fingers were bent back at odd angles. The pulse released at point blank range had done as much damage to me as Gondul.

Chiyo didn't chase either. Instead, she materialized a cute parasol and opened it above her head.

Shit!

In a flash, I recalled my error. Gondul's spell. I coiled my legs and sprang back.

Heaven fell upon my wake. God's faucet opened up, drenching the world in an endless torrent of lightning. My eyes burned at the strobing light and my ears burst at the thunderous roar. My evasion was narrow. Chiyo's was not. Lightning rolled around the girl, breaking atop her flimsy parasol as though it were a light rain.

My heart thudded in my chest. Whew that was-

The column undulated. Gondul caught the electric river with the tip of her spear. The stream twisted like a snake, tracking Gungnir as it span. The blade's point turned toward me.

_Move!_ My body condensed. Too slow. Too slow. Huh? Gondul's aim shifted. She was going to miss? ... Oh. That. Well, crap.

Lightning surged, conducted by the wires tying me to Gungnir. Faster than I could blink an electric dragon seized me in its jaws. I burned with its fury as plasmatic teeth sank into my flesh. Tenki fought to save me, but my ki was a candle in a firestorm.

My mind went blank.

Awareness fluttered at the edges. I flew. How far? I did not know. I hit the ground. Once? Twice? I could not count. I was on my back, staring at the sky. How long? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Time held no meaning.

Lapsed silence was broken by sudden sounds. A tornado, darkened with debris, gyred through the sky, passing over me. The length wavered, moving in stilted jerks. Explosive pops, as sharp as cannon fire, sounded. A building swayed right. Steel snapped, and concrete cracked. The tower quivered then rolled back, tilting to the left. There, it collapsed. Wreckage fell in a wave. Rubble poured over the side street and crashed into the six story structure still standing at its side.

A cloud of dust rushed over me. I breathed, hacked, and coughed. Irritation gave way to barely functional thought. I dragged myself to my feet only to slump anew. Heavy gusts scattered the dust. A roar assaulted my ears. My tenkui ryu was touching down a street away.

Oh god. My stomach twisted. Don't kill anyone. Please don't kill anyone.

I picked myself up. Jarring sounds leaked through the cacophony. A brutal battle continued not far ahead. I struggled to move so I could rejoin it. My body ached. Every muscle hurt. Pins and needles ran across my skin. Tenki sputtered around me, an engine starved of fuel. Motes of pink danced at the edge of my aura, energy wasted by the inefficiency.

I stumbled forward. My mind was a fog. Thoughts and feelings dribbled out in an incoherent mess. Move. Fight. Win.

The stillness broke.

Yellowed teeth, as long as daggers, crested the earth. A spectral jaw, formed from mist, gaped around me. It rose, eclipsing my height. Desperately, I jumped. The wolf gave chase. My hurried leap carried me a bare three meters off the ground. It was there that the jaws clamped down.

I tried the impossible. With the hook of my heels, I caught Garmr's gums. Jarring force shot through my limbs. My hips creaked. I could feel bone bending under the assault.

It was there that I stopped, a stick caught within Garmr's maw.

"Pathetic, witch," Garmr said. "To think you would fall for a trap so trivial." The fully formed words flowed from the wolf's throat, unhindered by the human jammed in his craw.

"Give me a few minutes and we can try again," I offered. "I'm sure I'll do better."

My joints ground against each other and my eyes blurred with pain. I found myself wavering at the edge of consciousness. My torso wobbled slightly. The alternating force sent splinters of torment through my bones.

"Tenshi Osakebi," I grunted.

A feeble bullet of pink blasted from my hands. My arms jerked, but my body did not. The attack tore through the wolf's guts. The black abyss flickered with silver flame. Garmr was unharmed.

Deep, booming laughter rolled over me.

"Was that the last of your strength, witch?" Garmr mocked. "If you are to escape, you best be quick, or your bones will crack and I will snap you in two."

To emphasize his point, Garmr increased the force of his bite. My legs began to bow. Pain built to torturous levels.

I trembled under the strain. I needed something. Anything. My ki was all but exhausted, and tenki claimed that which was left. Shuken abhorred my blemished body. It sought to restore it to perfection. The last bits of my energy were being thrown away in pursuit of a frivolous quest. It was an effect that could not be fully suppressed.

Cracks spread through my right leg. Hope diminished with the specter of death.

_Crash! Tosh, sheeiing! _

A car fell. It bounced off the ground then slid a dozen meters. A victim tossed by my tenkui ryu. The tornado whirled along a nearby street, adding to the wanton destruction. It was so close and yet so far. The whirling funnel seethed with spiritual energy. Power stolen from Garmr's minions. It flared pink as it absorbed that magic and transformed it into...

... my own.

Ah. Like a faded dream it came to me. I reached out. _Come. Come to me._

My shin snapped.

I lunged. Hands clamped down tight, forcing the bone back into place. My teeth ground. The fractured fragments shifted under the steady force of Garmr's bite. Against my will, my shin began to slip. It moved millimeter by millimeter, grains of sand passing through an hour glass.

I increased my grip. My fingers pressed down so hard it seemed they would cut through. With short breaths I battled the pain, my vision bleeding into gray.

The tornado whirled closer, following my call.

"Any last words, witch?" Garmr rumbled.

"You know," I gasped out. "Once upon a time I fought a dragon prince."

Wind tore at my face, washing away tears of pain. I could taste the power rushing through my tenkui ryu. A distant utopia just out of reach.

"He was a real arrogant bastard. Kicked the crap out of me too," I continued. "I won in the end though. Surprised him with a neat trick. You should have seen the look on his face."

"Oh? And are you going to show me a 'neat trick', witch?" Garmr chuckled, deep amusement reverberating through his throat.

The tenkui ryu halted. The eye of the storm was directly above. Raw energy flowed upward in an endless fountain, only to be drawn down once more by a million threads. I drank the power, feeling stronger. A gleeful smile spread across my lips.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm going to do. In fact, its pretty much the same as the one I showed him."

I let go of my leg. My shin went crooked in an instant. Bone penetrated flesh. Crimson sprayed. My hips sank downward. But, for the briefest moment, my torso rose. I raised my left arm so it could pierce the heart of the spiritual spiral.

Mighty jaws closed on me like a guillotine. I closed my eyes, prayed, and punched.

The flow reversed and I became the bed of a mighty river. All the power caught within my tenkui ryu rushed through me in a torrent. A beam exploded from my hand, a blast that dwarfed a thousand tenshi osakebis. I shot into the air, a rocket propelled by magic.

Instead of me, Garmr swallowed the sun.

Bands of pink, made of burning light, were rammed down the Garmr's throat. Not ki. Not haigeki. Not even shuken. This was pure, transformative force. An entire universe that reflected my distorted soul.

The giant wolf jerked back. His spectral form flickered erratically. He bit down and cast his head side to side. Mighty teeth severed the magic river. The tornado evaporated. Dust rained down. Garmr spat out a mouthful of pink. He hacked, then hacked again. Coils of rope where coughed out.

Garmr dragged himself from the earth so that his entire frame was visible. The giant swayed drunkenly. His body flickered, vanishing into translucence. The beast solidified then shook its ragged coat. Thin streamers of pink were shed in every direction.

"Is that-" Garmr stopped. The wolf coughed and disgorged a spray of string. "Is that your limit? I- _cough, cough, wheeze -_will not be defeated by..."

Garmr's legs slumped, his words cut off in mid stream. Pink threads wiggled out of his silver coat before diving back in. Cloth sewed itself into his hide. Garmr twisted his head and tore a great curtain of it free with his teeth.

It wasn't enough. Garmr's body once again faded into translucence. A webbing of pink was spreading over his form. Thread after thread wove itself through the wolf's coat, becoming ever thicker and deeper.

With deep chuckle Garmr gave up. The giant wolf settled on the ground, an old pup ready for a nap. "I stand corrected, witch. What foul magic you weave. Today, I am defeated... Tomorrow?"

The last was left hanging. Garmr vanished, his body dissolving into silver light.

Relief was followed by fatigue. I fell to the ground. I lay there, back to the dirt, eyes to the sky, breathing. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Maybe I should just let Chiyo handle the rest, I thought, half asleep. Ha. Like that would end well.

With a grunt, I forced myself into a sitting position. Carefully, I unrolled my right stocking. I glared at the bloody mess. The glare twisted into a grimace. No choice.

Clenching my teeth, I gripped knee and ankle. My arms flexed. Bone was wrenched apart. Fiery pain roared through my nerves. Air hissed through my teeth. Trembling, I waited until the black spots faded from my vision. I squinted. Skin stretched in an unsightly manner. With great care, I aligned the splintered fragments. I shoved them back into place.

"Gah!" I breathed out.

I huffed and fell back. My head throbbed, the pain drowning out weariness. Tenki remained. The last ebbs of my ki held the magic in place. Shuken spread through my wounds, an icy touch that imposed false perfection. I laid there for a some time, breathing in the life of the world. The scattered remnants of my tenkui ryu flowed into me, a spark of life to replace the bonfire I had expended.

I healed. A partial illusion. The wounds I bore would ail me for days. Cuts, when tenki was released, would reopen. My shattered shin would break anew. But not all would be lost. Shuken would speed my recovery. Weeks of damage would heal in days.

I waited minutes before I dared to stand. With a cringe of anticipation, I stomped my right foot. Needles jabbed my bone but the structure held. Assured my leg would not break anew, I plodded forward. Above all else, I needed to ensure Chiyo's victory. I could not let myself be dragged to the Institute a second time.

I scaled a mountain of rock and rubble – the crushed remnants of a building. It was a novel struggle. For once, mortal limits weighed me down, forcing me to climb hand over hand rather than rising to the top in a series of bounds.

I claimed the summit just as the battle ended. Gondul rested against a bent sign post, blood seeping through her armor in a steady dribble. A long gash had been cut across her torso. The wound started shallow but, by the time it reached her hip, bone showed through clear as day.

And that wasn't the worst of it. Gondul's arm had been hacked off. The discarded limb lay twenty meters away, buckler still attached.

From a safe distance, Chiyo gloated. "Oh, how I have dreamed of killing you, Gondul. But I'm disappointed. Your face is supposed to be scrunched in pain. Your eyes should be leaking tears. Beg, Gondul. Won't you beg? Just a little? For me?" Chiyo pleaded. Her vile grin spread anew. "If you do, I might even let you live."

"Burn my flesh and tear my limbs, if that is your desire, Chiyo. But I shall never show to you the slightest weakness," Gondul replied. "I am a warrior. I embraced death the moment I lifted my spear. There is nothing of mine you can take that I was not prepared to lose."

"Aahh!" Chiyo cried. "You are so irritating. It makes me want to scream," Chiyo complained. "Oh well. If you won't beg, I'll just have to amuse myself by killing you slowly. I better start with your legs. That way you won't be able to run away."

Gondul released the sign post. She shifted her weight so it settled into a steady stance. The Valkyrie's head did not turn but, for an instant, her eyes met mine.

"This battle is not over, Chiyo. I still stand. In my hand, I grasp Gungnir. And, with the last bit of my strength, I shall inflict upon you a wound. A wound from which you will never recover."

Chiyo unleashed a storm of cackles. Her laughter cut off a moment later. Gondul's spirit spiked. The energy broke into the visible spectrum, a roiling darkness. The foul cloud was sucked into Gungnir.

Chiyo clenched an axe in each hand. Sudden wind dragged at her pink dress. The girl's aura surged, filling the air with the cloying scent of cinnamon. The two aura's met, forming between them a storm front.

"You think to slay me outright with Gungnir? Fool." Chiyo's voice was laced with scorn. It failed to to hide the tremble of her hands.

"Chiyo Mori, know that I have foreseen your death." With her remaining arm, the Valkyrie lifted her spear. "Gungnir will carve out your heart. This I say as the Chooser. Your doom is set."

Gondul took three, running steps. Her entire body bent back then slung forward. Gungnir was cast.

A black meteor of howled across the battlefield. The lance smashed into Chiyo's aura, unleashing distorted waves of light and darkness. It pushed through, a torpedo passing through water.

The universe ground to a stop.

Gungnir lay suspended mere centimeters from Chiyo's heart. Time fractured. A thousand visions were played simultaneously. A kaleidoscope of fates were put on display as the world was written and unwritten. Death and life. Victory and defeat.

Then, all at once, it resumed.

Chiyo fell to the side. Her body hit the ground in an uncontrolled roll. A spray of blood splashed upon the earth. The droplets were too few. Gondul had failed.

Or had she?

Gungnir's flight did not end with Chiyo. Like a laser, the spear refracted. My eyes went wide. All I had seen was wrong. Gondul had not thrown her spear at Chiyo. She had thrown it at me.

Undodgable. Unblockable. Gungnir was cloaked in power. My petty defense was nothing before it. I was dead. Finished. Done. The weapon slammed home. The blow plucked me from my rubble summit and cast to the foot of the mountain.

My head bounced off concrete. My vision went blank. Awareness returned. Pain. My right leg throbbed. My collar burned. My muscles were leadened weights.

Missing was the pain of a gouged out heart.

With dazed confusion, my head rolled to the side. There I found Gungnir. The spear sat secure in my open palm, wrapped in a shroud of sakki. The fetid aura crawled across my skin, feeling like rotten fingers, reeking of death.

Unable to understand, I stared.

The spear stared back.

Gungnir's aura roiled. The presence gathered as though it were a living thing. The hungry monster cast its eye upon me. Then, with spectral jaws, it swallowed me whole.

Ki was torn from my heart. It fled my flesh in strands of pinkish light. Darkness gobbled it all. I was too weak to fight it. All I could do was scream while my back arched and my muscles tensed.

With a dull thud, I slumped to the ground.

Gungnir went silent. The dark aura gone, leaving behind cold steel. I drew long, shuddering breaths. Tenki collapsed. A cascade of sparkles drifted down around me. My pink dress melted into blue. My hair shortened. Life flowed back into my veins. A fragment of tenki's price returned with its parting.

I allowed myself three breaths before standing.

I hissed and stumbled. My right shin shifted under my weight. I leaned upon Gungnir. The mighty spear served as a crutch.

My eyes lifted. I looked upon the mountain of debris. It seemed a dozen times taller than before.

I decided to take the long way around.

Step after trudging step, I approached the battlefield. In mindless wonder, I gazed upon the broken streets. Here and there were signs of humanity. Nervous people peered through their windows. A scattered few rushed across the street. Chiyo's girls stalked the alleys, watching me with wary eyes as I stumbled passed.

Not a single one dared to attack.

It took minutes to reach ground zero. Gondul was dead. Her arms and legs had been chopped off. Chiyo paraded in front of the limbless torso. The saccharine demon held aloft Gondul's head, a trophy for the victor.

"Dead. Dead! Finally dead. Now all that is left is your master. After that, everything will be mine!" Chiyo proclaimed gleefully.

The girl twirled in place, her scarlet stained dress puffing out cutely. White lace dripped with crimson. Ice crawled through my veins. Chiyo's tenki was intact. Yet there she was, covered in blood.

This was the depth of her madness.

Laughing, Chiyo faced me. She cast aside her toy as though it were garbage. Gondul's head clanged off the concrete. It rolled half a rotation then stopped, propped up by the wings of the Valkyrie's helmet.

"Ranma-chan," Chiyo sang in delight. She flounced forward a single step. Joy evaporated. Her eyes fixed upon the spear. "Ranma-chan, why do you have Gungnir?"

I glanced to my side. Gungnir rested in my hand, a thick spear made from solid steel. It had an elongated blade shaped like a leaf. The weapon was long enough to cut but was designed to pierce.

Gungnir had changed. When Gondul had held it, the spear had appeared as rugged as the Valkyrie herself. Now, the blade shone like a mirror. The haft was white and covered in vines and flowers. At a glance, I understood what had happened. Gungnir had refashioned itself with the power of my tenki.

The spear was mine.

But why? We had been enemies divided by our views of the world. Then my gaze shifted to Chiyo. Ah. The answer was obvious. Better me than her.

"Give me the spear, Ranma-chan," Chiyo said sweetly. The girl grasped a hair clip and formed a new axe.

"Like hell."

The retort was instant. I wasn't giving her Gungnir. The spear was power in its rawest form. With it, I could shred the auric defense of magical girls. Against the weakest, Gungnir granted instant victory. Against the strongest, Gungnir threatened death. With Gungnir, even Chiyo could be defeated.

But not right now. I was exhausted. Tenki lay beyond my reach. With my broken leg, I could neither fight nor retreat. In this state, Carrotcake constituted a deadly threat.

"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma," Chiyo tutted as though talking to a child. "And here I thought you were getting better. But it seems you are as stupid as before. Allow me to rephrase that. Give me Gungnir or die."

"Heh," I grunted. "You will off me either way. So I think I will go down fighting, thank you very much."

Chiyo let out a sweet giggle. "You can learn. But don't worry, my sweet, I have better things planned for you than death." Chiyo's smile turned malicious. "But that doesn't mean I won't kill you if you continue to refuse. Give me Gungnir. I killed Gondul. It belongs to me."

"No," I answered again.

"Oh." Amusement drained from Chiyo's face. "A pity then."

Chiyo raised an axe. Power gathered along its edge. I lifted Gungnir in response, holding the spear crosswise in the hope it would stop her attack.

_Dead Scream_.

A whisper, spoken from far away, yet clearly heard. A bolt of purple light shot from the top of a mutilated building. It struck the ground at Chiyo's feet. The girl hopped back, her axes falling into a defensive posture.

In the blink of an eye, Setsuna stood at my side.

The fuku wearing woman was utter calm. She held a key shaped staff at her side. There was no indication that she felt any need to prepare for battle.

"Hecate," Chiyo spat. Her face twisted with hatred. "Are you done playing in the shadows, then?"

"Ranma-kun is necessary, Chiyo-chan," Setsuna said simply. "You must not kill him."

Chiyo gave an angelic smile. "But I wasn't going to kill her. I was only going to punish her a little for keeping Gungnir from me."

Yeah. Sure you were.

Setsuna set a gloved hand on my shoulder. A foreign aura pressed against mine. I batted it aside and shot a glance in Setsuna's direction. The woman's face gave nothing away. The presence remained, insistently probing.

"That Ranma-kun possesses Gungnir is the most suitable outcome. Ownership can be decided at a later date. Perhaps when the matter with the Institute is settled? Is that not sufficient, Chiyo-chan?"

"How convenient," Chiyo retorted. "I am not so naïve as to accept a deal that only plays out after I have become unnecessary, Hecate. I have not forgotten how you used Hikaru and I." Chiyo's ugly visage turned friendly again. "Ranma-chan, I would step away from that witch if I were you. Hecate is the type that sends cute little twelve year olds to their death."

I raised a finger. "Let me think about that for a minute," I said. My expression dropped. "How about, no." I turned to Setsuna. "And thanks, but no thanks. Gungnir isn't yours to offer. If Chiyo wants it, she can pry it from my corpse."

"And there you have it," Chiyo said. "I will take Gungnir today. Willingly or unwillingly. Don't think you can stop me, Hecate. I know how strong you are, and I am stronger."

"Will you betray our alliance for a spear?" Setsuna asked, her words mild and her posture unconcerned. "Which is more important to you, Gungnir or Artemis's death?"

"I have to choose?" Chiyo asked with wide eyed innocence. "Both. I'll take the spear now and kill Artemis later. Better than sticking with your plans, Hecate. An unloved girl like me, why, I might end up dead."

"I see," Setsuna observed. "But, Chiyo, you have little choice in this matter. The plays in progress are already beyond your control."

"No choice? I'm making one right now," Chiyo retorted. She lifted her axe a second time.

Setsuna smiled in response. Her magic gathered. I felt it tighten in my body. The world jerked.

We were gone.

For a moment, I span through infinite emptiness. Then, just as quickly, I returned. My body dropped half a meter through thin air. I hit the ground. Hard. My broken right leg buckled. I fell to the floor, hissing with pain.

Carpet? I looked around with blurry eyes. Rich furniture and classy furnishings surrounded me. An upper class home if not a mansion.

"I apologize, Ranma-kun. The landing can be a bit difficult the first time. You can relax now. You are safe. For the next few days, at least."

The tension did not drain until I forced myself to let it go. I had no more strength with which to fight. It was pointless to not trust Setsuna now.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Free.

Please, let me be free.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Characters**

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

_**Garmr**__ [PPI, Divine Beast]_ – The ghost hound and steed of the Chooser. Garmr is child of Fenrir, and litter mate to Skoll and Hati. In terms of raw spiritual strength, Garmr is nearly a match for Gondul making him a terrifying companion. His powers include regeneration, neigh immortality, the ability to become insubstantial at will, and the power to call forth the phantoms of the world's fiercest wolves as his allies.

In combat Garmr fights primarily by biting. He can also disgorge the weapons of fallen armies, but only after swallowing a soul. Garmr's greatest magic can only be used on a true battlefield. With his howls he can part the boundary of life and death, forcing any soldier recently slain to fight again as an einherjar.

**Techniques:**

List of techniques mentioned or appearing. Common Ranma ½ techniques are not included. All martial arts / ki / ki-like techniques are in (crappy) Japanese. Most magical girl powers are in English.

_**Unmei Nuu Ito** [lit. Fate Stitching Thread]_ – The fundamental form of Ranma's magical girl magic as reconstructed per the XT-11 experiment. This spell generates threads that pierce into the victim's flesh, and weave themselves through the victim's physical and spiritual matrix. The result is to convert the target into a magical girl slave..., at least that was the intent of the XT-11 experiment. Whether the power is complete and functional is something Ranma does not know and intends to never find out.

_**Tenkui Ryu** [lit. Heaven Eating Dragon]_ – A variation of the hiryu shoten ha that was unintentionally combined with the unmei nuu ito spell. This is first technique of Ranma's that constitutes a full mesh of martial arts and magic.

The tenkui ryu is formed by creating a devouring spiral that draws the enemy's energies into a central point. The spiral is then pierced with a transformative haigeki/shuken combination, forcing the transformation of the prior energy. The resulting magic then shoots upward in a spiritual fountain. Since the new magic remains 'tenki-like', it distorts physical reality replacing it with a 'realm' imposed by shuken.

While superficially similar, the tenkui ryu and the hiryu shoten ha are fundamentally different. The tenkui ryu's wind and tornado shape are low level side effects. Where as, in the hiryu shoten ha, the shape and form are the the primary destructive force. As a result the tenkui ryu produces a weaker tornado, though the uplifting force is stronger due to the fact that the tenkui ryu also distorts gravity.

The tenkui ryu inflicts damage by using the threads filling the tornado. Each of these threads is a weaker version of those produced by the unmei nuu ito – Ranma's fundamental magic. These threads work by entangling any victim caught in the tornado. Thereafter the threads pierce the victim and siphon the life-force.

The consumed life-force is then drawn down the threads and poured into the tornado's heart. There they are used as fuel for the spiritual fountain, empowering the entire technique further. In essence, this makes the tenkui ryu a grand sealing spell, one that uses the opponent's strength to bind the enemy until it is either destroyed or converted.

Executing this technique requires that the enemy has dispersed a sufficiently large amount of spiritual energy. However, unlike with the hiryu shoten ha, the energy need not be 'hot'. It merely needs to be convertible (sufficiently deviant from that of Ranma's tenki). If the scattered energy is insufficient in volume, the tornado will not form. Further, if the scattered energy is too small – with regard to the spiritual strength and mystical resistance of the enemy – the technique will fail to deliver fatal damage even if the tornado forms.

_**Starlight Starfall**_ – A broad area attack spell best described as anti-army. Chiyo creates a parasol and summons a rain of giant gobstopper mortar shells. The gobstoppers hit like penetrating cannons, cratering the ground, only to explode a few seconds later. The attack is mostly ineffective against magical girls as the unconcentrated energy does little to break down defensive auras. However, the attack is devastating when used against fixed defenses and soft targets.

_**(unnamed) Divine Thunderbolt**_ – A divine class magic wielded by Gondul. The Valkyrie calls forth a thirty meter wide column of lightning. The bolt discharges in a continuous current over a period of two to three seconds. Due to its breadth and intensity this hyper destructive spell is effective against strong individuals as wells as moderate sized groups. Unfortunately, the spell is difficult to use in combat. Divine Thunderbolt has a large charge time and, as such, is vulnerable to disruption.


	10. Choice

**Author's Forward –** Some bad news. My queue of completed chapters is nearly exhausted. The chapter 11 draft is complete, but not edited. Chapter 12 has not been started. What does that mean to you? Not much immediately. There is a 99% chance I will meet the December release date. However, given my sluggish writing and holiday disruptions, I will almost certainly miss the following February release.

However things may change. I will fill you in when December comes.

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 10: Choice**

-oOo-

"That's enough, Hotaru," Setsuna said.

A cute, dark-haired girl sagged back, her palms resting on the ground. Her chest heaved. Breath rushed through her lungs. With droopy eyes, the girl tilted her head to face the green haired woman.

"It isn't done yet, Setsuna-mama," Hotaru whispered with her shy voice.

The girl rolled into a sitting position. She reached out and placed her hands around my purple, blood encrusted shin. Warm light radiated. Pain eased. Flesh knit. Bone reformed.

I jerked the limb away.

"Listen to your mom, squirt," I chided. "I don't want to see you passing out on-"

Hotaru's violet eyes slid closed. The girl fell to the side. I lurched forward. Setsuna beat me to the punch. The green haired woman caught the child in her arms. Gently, she lifted Hotaru into the air.

"Well, crap," I said. My gaze shifted to the ruby eyed woman. "Sorry about that."

Setsuna laid Hotaru on the sofa. With a kind smile, she watched her sleep.

"Hotaru is the victim of her own kindness, Ranma-kun. She chose this burden. It is not our place to begrudge her that."

I set my broken leg on the ottoman. Bloody stockings were rolled down around my ankles, leaving an ugly wound exposed. Hotaru's magic had eased the injury. Days of healing were delivered in minutes. Combined with my natural life force, the result was a near miracle. Bone was now hidden beneath a mess of torn skin. The bruising had faded so the splotch was no bigger than my hand.

But her magic had not cured my wound entirely.

With a grimace, I seized a roll of gauze. I wrapped the limb in ample layers of cloth.

"Yeah, well, I think I'll pass on the squirt. It ain't pretty, but shuken will hold this together if it comes to that."

Setsuna's face was unfathomable. "Of course, Ranma-kun. I trust you to make the best decision on this matter."

I grunted and tightened the bandages. I jiggled the splint, verifying it was solid. "I wouldn't count on that," I grumbled.

Reluctantly, I stood. A hiss escaped when I added my weight. Sharp pain crawled its way through fragmented bone. I scowled. The howling limb did not relent. In irritation, I grabbed Gungnir. If nothing else, the spear served as a handy crutch.

I turned to Setsuna, my eyes hardening. Her granite face gave no hint of guilt. For now, I was free of the Institute. But I had not forgotten my suffering. Setsuna's last minute rescue had been too convenient. I disliked the thought of scorning my savior, but the suspicion roiling in my gut would not relent.

"We need to talk."

Shadowy mist flowed. Setsuna's suit melted into a stylized fuku. "Yes, we do. But this is not the proper place for our discussion. If you would?"

Setsuna offered a gloved hand. I took it. Foreign energy pressed into me. I allowed the invasion. Magic spread through my body then jerked. Internal organs were wrenched to the side. Darkness. They were wrenched back.

Solid ground hit my feet. Pain shot through my shin. I wobbled, but held my balance.

Gone was Setsuna's mansion. In its place was a sea of fog. Gray mist rolled around my waist, so thick that I could see only a few meters distant. The ground was an abyss. Frozen void. The darkest region of space rendered solid then cast as a floor.

The featureless hollow stretched on for forever. Only one object broke the expanse. A giant, ornate door was set between marble pillars. The portal was thrown open. Rather than a path, it showed an image. The colors were crisp even in the dense mist. A city bustled, dwarfed by a crystal palace. Sunlight twinkled off the structure, shedding heavenly beauty on the inhabitants.

"That is...?" I asked, taking in the sight.

"A future," Setsuna answered. "One of many. One unlikely to occur." A hint of amusement teased Setsuna's lips. "Enough of that matter. You have questions, Ranma-kun. Questions you would not feel comfortable asking in front of Hotaru."

"You got that right," I said. "I have a bucket full of them. And you, sure as hell, better have answers."

I glared at the woman, my fingers drumming along Gungnir's haft. A warning of how ugly things could get if Setsuna played me for the fool.

"Of course," Setsuna replied. "But before we begin."

The green haired woman tapped her staff against solid void. From nothingness sprang a table and chairs. Setsuna slipped into her seat, a figure of elegance. She set her key shaped staff at her side.

"What's this? The cafe all over again?" I derided. I grabbed a chair and dropped in. It felt good to get off my broken leg.

"I apologize for the lack of refreshments," Setsuna said. "This place provides neither food nor drink, and I did not think ahead to procure them."

"Like hell you didn't," I grunted in reply. "Now talk. Last time we met, you knew I would be captured, didn't you?"

"Yes," Setsuna answered with a light gesture. "That outcome was a certainty."

I slammed my hands on the table and leaned forward. "Then why the hell didn't you say anything!"

Setsuna didn't blink. "Because doing so would have been pointless."

"Pointless?" I growled. I stood. My body quivered with barely suppressed rage. "Do you know what they did to me? If I had known-"

"You would not have believed," Setsuna interrupted. Her words were clear and crisp. "The boy I met did not wish to hear such words. My warning would have fallen on deaf ears."

"That-" _Was true_. Knowing it did not make it better. My hands gouged the edge of the table, splintering wood with their unconstrained strength. "You could have told me to turn back after meeting Chiyo," I spat. "I would have understood that."

Setsuna rose from her seat. She lifted her staff high. The garnet sphere at the crux of the heart glowed with malevolent fire. _Thud._ The world shuddered. The door rumbled, the sound of stone shifting on stone. The image cast by the portal changed.

Four figures fled Chiyo. Two more joined the retreat. A battle raged, six against one. To that was added the might of Uranus and Neptune. Our victory looked inevitable. Then, all at once, everything changed. From empty earth sprang an ocean of vines. All paths were sealed. Artemis sauntered onto the field, flanked by her Valkyrie Gondul.

When I did not to come to her, she came to me.

"The Institute, Ranma-kun, is Artemis's realm. She felt your first foot step. She waited so as to witness your capacity. The others she cared nothing for. You were her prize."

Setsuna's eyes glinted in the darkness. "The path you chose was the best one. The others vary only in the number of lives lost. Hikaru, Syaoran, Fumio, and rarely, Mamoru. If luck was with us, two of the four would live."

I slumped into my seat, my strength sucked away. My greatest mistake. To think, knowledge made no difference. In a way, it was a relief. Now that I knew, I could forgive myself. My foolish pursuit of Akane had not been wrong.

But that feeling lasted mere moments. _A lie_. Setsuna showed me a lie. The image I saw brought too much relief. It was too easy for her to pick the things she wanted me to see. What other futures were there? What did Setsuna hide from my eyes?

My hands curled into fists. "You think you can trick me like this? You think that, after seeing one image, everything will be alright? You knew," I accused. "You let this happen."

Setsuna waved her staff. The door slid closed. The green haired woman settled into her chair, a sad smile crossing her lips. "Knowing matters less than you imagine, Ranma-kun. I am but one woman. There are limits to what I can do."

I scowled. I didn't want to believe her. No. This went beyond denial. What I needed was someone to blame. Someone to hit and punch. The Institute had left me full of rage and frustration. I needed release.

"How long have you been working with Chiyo?" I demanded.

"Ah," Setsuna said. "Finally you ask an important question. The answer is the obvious one. From the beginning."

"And what does that mean?" I growled. My eyes were narrowed slits hunting the slightest deception.

"It means exactly what you think it means, Ranma-kun," Setsuna answered. "Chiyo-chan met you at my request. I sent her to that rooftop to ensure you would not fall into the Institute's hands."

So that was why. Slowly, the pieces started to fall into place. Chiyo's first battle with Gondul. Hikaru's presence at the table. He must have known about the alliance. Like Chiyo, Hikaru had been on that roof to meet me.

But things had not gone as planned. Chiyo had played her own game.

"Fat lot of good that did," I snorted. "Chiyo was more interested in shoving me into her cocoon than providing protection."

"That was expected."

Goosebumps spread across my arms. "What?"

"I said that was expected, Ranma-kun." Setsuna gave an icy smile. "Chiyo is a woman with an unceasing hunger for power. To place before her an important piece is to ensure she will seize it."

"You... you wanted that?"

"Oh yes," Setsuna answered. "It was of the utmost importance that you were subject to Chiyo's cocoon. In all other paths, tenki remained beyond your reach. A disastrous future, I assure you.

"I did take preventative measures," she added. "It would have been quite unfortunate had Chiyo's betrayal born fruit. That was why I tipped off Gondul. I must say, seeing you escape on your own was quite the surprise. For a moment, I feared my plans had gone awry." Setsuna's smile was oddly pleased.

"You've been manipulating me." My hands began to shake uncontrollably.

"Didn't you know?" Setsuna asked. "I did try to make it obvious."

_Crash! _The table split in two. I stood over the woman, my eyes smoldering. _"_You knew I would be caught. That was the _point_ wasn't it?" I accused.

With a slow, dainty motion, Setsuna clapped her hands. "How astute. Though your deduction would have been more impressive had you reached it without my lead."

I seized Setsuna's collar and ripped her from the chair. "Do you think this is a game? You ruined my life!"

Setsuna's reply was ice. "No, Ranma-kun. This is not a game. This is a war. You should take care to remember that." The woman jerked her collar free, unfazed by the attack. "And there is a misconception I must correct. It was you who chose to go to the Institute. Do not blame me for your decision."

"Don't you dare throw this on me!" I roared. "You set me up. You, goddamn set me up. Do you know what they did to me? Do you?"

I grabbed Setsuna arm and threw her to the ground. The woman crashed into solid fog. I stomped after her, impervious to pain. I towered over Setsuna's body, filled with uncontrollable rage.

"You may as well have done it yourself," I spat.

With an insufferable smile, Setsuna pulled herself to her feet. "Ah, but Ranma-kun, you knew I was manipulating you. You knew I did not have your best interests in mind. I made quite certain of that. And still you made your _choice_."

"That wasn't a choice!"

"Of course it was," she contradicted, her glacial voice touched by scorn. Setsuna adjusted her fuku. "Tell me, Ranma-kun, do you know what fate is?"

"Don't preach to me," I growled.

Setsuna continued. "Events are like rain drops. One can never know where they might fall. But one doesn't have to. Do you know why, Ranma-kun? Because every time it rains all the water ends up in the same place."

"Shut up," I demanded. I looked away and did my best to ignore her. If Setsuna kept talking there was no telling what I would do. "Shut up and take me home."

_Thud!_

Setsuna's staff slammed into the ground. Doors emblazoned with the phases of the moon exploded open. Colorless gray flared with light. A thousand images filled the void. Everywhere I looked, I saw myself. Epic battles were fought and lost. An endless litany of defeats. Again and again the Institute crushed my body then dragged my corpse into its tomb-like walls.

"Fate, Ranma-kun, is a river," Setsuna proclaimed. "Just as water gathers into streams, so too does this world cause events to pass. Fate is the tilt of this world. It is physics. It is culture. It is the reflection cast by our selves.

"Gaze, Ranma-kun, into the kaleidoscope of time. See the shape of your destiny, and know that your suffering was inescapable. The sequence was set before your born. Artemis, whose vengeance could not be swayed. The Institute that she bore. Your father and his quest for perfection. Jusenkyo that twisted your form.

When you set foot in Nerima, the result becomes inevitable. You are too perfect for Artemis's intent. And so she chooses you for her experiment. And what do you do, Ranma-kun, when faced with an unbeatable foe? You fight. Such is your nature. The result is what you see. Death and destruction."

Lies. They were lies. I refused to listen. I closed my eyes so I would not see. But the images had already burned their way into my brain. I knew my flaws. I knew my strength. The result of me meeting the Institute was unquestionable. I would be defeated. I would be destroyed.

There could be no other outcome.

"The future isn't set," I hissed. "It can be changed. There are always to paths to victory. _Don't lie to me!_"

"And you are right, Ranma-kun. The future can be changed. Fate can be denied. All that is required is a choice."

_Flop_. A manila envelope hit the floor. I stared, riveted in place. I remembered the cafe. I remembered the choice Setsuna had offered.

"It is easy, is it not, the choice that changes everything? All you had to do was walk away. That was the price fate demanded."

My vision burned. The word 'retreat' was scrawled in purple pen, but to my eyes it was fire. _You chose_, the folder mocked. I trembled, hatred bubbling up within me. I kicked. The folder skittered into the darkness, white notes fluttering through the fog.

"That wasn't a choice," I said. My voice quivered, caught between confused emotions. "I could never walk away."

"And that, Ranma-kun, is fate."

Brilliant images faded into gray. The gates closed once more. I stood in the darkness, silent. My mind was consumed by that simple choice. The folder was scattered, but the memory remained. Always the answer stayed the same. Retreat was not an option. Had I taken that path, I would never have been able to forgive myself. And what kind of life would that be?

_A better one_, a traitorous part of my mind whispered.

Slowly, I dragged my eyes from the fog. I found Setsuna. Rage and frustration stirred. I felt as though I would explode at any moment. I was scared of it. Terrified that I would do something I could never take back.

"Is that all?" I whispered. "Please tell me you aren't hiding anything else."

Setsuna's garnet eyes flickered. "I regret, Ranma-kun, that there is still one more question you need to ask."

"Heh," I snorted a sick laugh. My guts twisted on themselves. "And what would that be? Did you murder Pop while I was gone?"

Setsuna gave a morbid smile. "Oh? I thought for sure it would have crossed your mind. The question of Furinkan."

_From the beginning_. I went numb. Feeling drained away. Red ate my vision.

"Hikaru shouldn't have been late," I whispered, my voice growing louder. "He should have been there, waiting. Why wasn't he there? Why did he show up when it was already too late!?"

My shout echoed through the void. The scene played in my mind. The white van punched through the Furinkan's gate. Speakers blared. Five minutes. Five minutes faster and Akane would be free.

"A hook," Setsuna explained, "to ensure events took the most optimal path."

My fist slammed into Setsuna's face.

Her body twisted through the air before tumbling across the ground. Mist seethed around her. I was blind. Pain was gone. Feeling was gone. Thinking was gone. _Kill her_. The desire tore through me. Should I even try to deny it?

"Stand," I commanded.

Setsuna staggered to her knees. With my right hand, I smashed her down.

"Get up. Get up and fight!"

Setsuna moved too slow. Furious, I kicked her in the ribs. Gasping, she fell again. Angrily, I paced. Back and forth. Back and forth. Damn it, why wasn't she standing? Why wasn't she fighting?

"I said fight me!"

But Setsuna did not fight. Deliberately, she stood. Her face was a shadowed mess, darkened by broken capillaries. The injury melted away. Shuken cured her wounds. The sight made me sick.

I stomped forward and raised a fist. I held it there, trembling. I could not make myself swing. The heat had faded. I could no longer strike a woman who refused to fight back.

And Setsuna knew it.

My fury became ice. I turned away and seized Gungnir. The deadly spear quivered in my grasp, alive and eager. I aimed the point at Setsuna's heart.

"Fight me or I kill you."

She laughed. "Try a better lie, Ranma-kun. We both know that is not in your nature."

Red swallowed everything. I heaved back. Gungnir lay suspended in my hand. I lurched forward-

-And slammed the spear into the ground.

"Stop manipulating me!"

I screamed it into her face. Setsuna remained unshakable.

"No."

My teeth ground. My body was a ball of rage. Denied my outlet, I ripped the spear free and stomped back to my chair. Lances of pain shot through my shin with every step. I hardly cared.

I sat. The chair's frame cracked.

"Why?"

Setsuna swept back to her seat. All signs of violence had vanished. Even the broken table was restored.

"I needed a senshi," she answered.

I slumped, frustrated and exhausted. "A senshi. Don't you have a whole team of them?"

I set Gungnir against the table. I was half afraid of what I would do if Setsuna said the wrong thing. I was half hoping she would.

"One of Artemis's senshi," Setsuna clarified. "Tell me, Ranma-kun, what would happen if Artemis died-" _Snap!_ Setsuna's finger flickered over her thumb. "-just like that?"

"The world would be a happier place?" I grumbled.

I didn't want to think. I didn't want to understand. I didn't want to face the complexity of the world. I wanted black to be black and white to be white. No shades of gray. Good and evil. Heroes and villains.

But my brain betrayed me. _The Director's dreams are my dreams. _A phrase burned into my head. The Institute, I had once observed, was a demon. A demon that ate girls. Kamiko, Akina, and the others would keep moving forward even without Artemis. Ceaselessly, they would throw girls into the furnace as though they were fuel.

The Institute would devour the world.

"You understand, don't you, Ranma-kun," Setsuna said. "What Artemis has built is a doomsday machine. A stoppable one, thankfully. But suppose, Ranma-kun, that we did stop it. Suppose, for a moment, that all the girls were within our grasp."

I stared at the table, tracing the grain with my eyes. I knew the answer. I knew what had to be done. But I didn't want to say it.

"Compassion is the conceit of the strong," Setsuna continued. "And we are weak. We have no prisons to hold them. They will not falter in their quest. Given such a scenario, there is only one solution. We must kill them all."

"It is not their fault," I mumbled.

Akane. Emiko. Myself. How many of those girls were innocent? I, who had broken, could not fault them for breaking. Even Kamiko. Could I honestly say that her crimes belonged to her?

"You are correct. It is not their fault," Setsuna agreed. "Sadly, this world cares little for such things."

A pathetic laugh escaped me. I knew better than anyone how little the world cared. How many crimes had I carried that did not belong to me? It was easy to blame whoever was most convenient. Ha. Was I any different? Hating Setsuna for what Artemis had done?

Yes, those girls were not at fault. But fault did not matter. If all lives are equally precious, then humans can be treated as numbers. Two hundred or two thousand? It was basic arithmetic. An arithmetic that hid horror beyond comprehension.

But that did not mean the arithmetic was wrong.

"You say fate can be denied," I stated. My eyes were closed. I wanted to vomit. I wanted to swallow the words that came next. But I couldn't. Not any more. "So, what do I have sacrifice? What is the price to make things right?"

"A heroic offer," Setsuna observed. "But you need not fear, Ranma-kun, for your price is almost paid. That sin belongs to me. Without asking, I traded two for two-hundred."

"So that was the reason." I leaned back and stared into the infinite void.

I wanted to say: _why didn't you ask?_ But I already knew that was a pointless question. Setsuna didn't ask because, had she, I would have laughed in her face. Back then, I had no intention of being a hero. I fought the Institute to save my friends.

"...almost paid," I murmured. "So what else do I have to give up?"

"Everything and nothing," Setsuna answered cryptically.

I scowled. "Just tell me, damn it."

Setsuna stood and pushed her chair aside. "If I answer that question, Ranma-kun, you will do what must be done. But, in doing so, you will have made yourself my tool. An act you will regret," Setsuna said. "So, I leave it to you to find the path."

I gave a skeptical look. Setsuna ignored me. Instead she waved her staff, vanishing the table.

"I trust you will see Hotaru in the morning," she said. "Big things are coming. If you are to play your part, you will need to be in the best of health."

I grabbed Gungnir and pulled myself to my feet. My shin sang a sonnet of pain. The last few minutes had not been kind to it.

"I'm not using the squirt."

Setsuna's eyes were sharp. "If Hotaru knew you were trading the lives of hundreds for a few days of her comfort, she would not forgive you. Nor, I believe, would you forgive yourself. You will see her in the morning. Do not fear. I will make myself scarce."

I grunted, but said nothing.

Setsuna offered her hand.

I gave a final glare. "Don't think I've forgiven you. As far as I'm concerned, you've got hell to pay."

Setsuna's eyes twinkled with mirth. "Of course, Ranma-kun. I would never presume such a thing."

With that, we were swept away.

-oOo-

_Click._

"-a warzone out here. This is as close as they will let us get. As you can see from the buildings behind me-"

_Click._

"-the opposition party has issued a call for the immediate dissolution of the Pretty Princess Institute. It isn't clear yet whether-"

_Click_.

"-dozens dead and thousands missing. And the rescue efforts have just begun. The death toll is expected to-"

_Click._

"-And we stop now to focus on a more personal tragedy. Two reporters killed in a helicopter crash while bravely-"

_Click._

"-_this_ was why the Institute was created. Our Nation stands ready. We will not bow. We will not break. We will defeat this terrible foe. To those who died today, we will deliver justice!

"As for those cowards in the Diet who abuse this nation's trust to further their political aims? I say to them-"

_Click._

The television went black, silencing Artemis's speech.

"Hey, could you go back a few channels?" I asked.

Ukyou jumped. The startled girl twisted in place. Her big brown eyes focused on me, not believing.

"Ranchan?" she asked.

"Yo," I answered.

I was leaning against the back of an old beat up couch. The sun had set an hour ago. I had used the fading light to clean myself up. Gone was the torn dress. To replace it, I had found a pair of loose pants and a plain blue shirt.

I missed my old kung-fu outfit already. These clothes, while similar, were not the same. I felt as though normality was just out reach. I told myself that would change. I was a man again. Not for minutes, but for as long as I wanted. The nightmare was over.

"What are you-" Ukyou stumbled to a pause. Her face did strange acrobatics. Then, all at once, she threw herself over the couch.

She didn't quite make it.

The couch wobbled when Ukyou's leg clipped the top. Her flying hug turned into a tumbling flop. I caught her. Or maybe she caught me. The brown haired girl crushed me in her arms.

"Ranchan. I was starting to think I would never see you again then – _bam_ – there you were, standing right behind me." Ukyou drew away the slightest bit. Her eyes narrowed. "What were you thinking, sneaking in without saying anything?"

I patted her on the back. "I said something. I said 'could you go back a few channels'."

Ukyou pulled away. With a weak hand, she slapped me. "That is not something," she scolded. Her irritation faded into a humored smile. "Ha. And no frills this time. Already back the same old Ranchan."

My brow twitched. What was wrong with frills? Frills were cute. As a girl, there was no reason I shouldn't have a few-

I shuddered. Those were not my thoughts. Those were Akina's thoughts. Or maybe Shizue's. I, Ranma Saotome, hated frills. I repeated that thought as though to undo Kamiko's brainwashing by substituting my own.

Sickness crawled up my throat. Instead of vanishing, my feelings became twisted. The dueling thoughts coiled about themselves to form a poisonous knot at the bottom of my stomach.

Ukyou's joy faded in worry. "Are you okay, Ranchan?"

Breathe in. Breathe out. I forced myself to relax. While doing so, I took in my surroundings.

The warehouse was a big metal box, the ground cement, the walls aluminum sheet. From where I stood, there were two visible doors. A large, rolling, garage door meant for vehicles. A small, rectangular door designed for humans. The warehouse itself was divided by lengths of plywood. Sheets and bedding were thrown over the tops to act as shields against splinters. Dusty rugs ran over the floor, sheltering feet from the cold stone below.

It wasn't much, but the warehouse served its purpose. Girls were plucked from the PPI's grasp. Here they would stay. Sometimes for days. Sometimes for months. Then, when the time was right, they would be shipped to the safety of Hong Kong. There, Syaoran would provide more permanent residence.

We were in the 'living room' of the warehouse. It was a broad, open space at the building's front. Behind me was an empty parking spot, the former home of Hikaru's van. Ahead were a spattering of seats, tables, and shelves. A couch faced the lonely, small screened television.

"Ranchan?" Ukyou probed again.

My eyes snapped back to her. "What are you doing here anyway?" I asked.

Ukyou peered at me a while longer. Eventually, she relented. "It wasn't like I could go back to my shop. And I wasn't going to wig out like the other girls either." Ukyou shook her head in disgust. "Can you believe it? You pull their asses out of the fire and not one, _not a single one_, sticks around to help."

I could believe it. A month in the Institute was more than anyone could bear. Those girls? Well, they had been exactly that, girls. Not fighters. Not martial artists. Just random girls. When Ukyou and I had been on the road, cold and hungry, they had been cooped up in warm homes. When I had been evading death, they had endured the fear of exams.

It wasn't fair to hold those girls to my standard.

"Far as I'm concerned, those girls had the right idea," I voiced. "Maybe you should join them."

"Ranchan, you aren't seriously telling me to run away?" Ukyou growled.

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Ucchan, the Institute-"

"I know what the Institute is like, Ranchan," Ukyou shot back. "I was there, remember. Agony isn't the kind of thing a girl forgets."

"Ucchan-"

"Don't start that with me," Ukyou warned. "I'm not Akane. I'm not going to run off and do something stupid. But I refuse to be dead weight."

Ukyou glared to make sure I got the message. I tightened my fists and glared back. In the end, it was I who backed off. Ukyou knew her limits. She was cool headed enough to step out when the danger got hot.

Unlike Akane. Unlike me.

"I hear you, Ucchan. I just...," I trailed off, searching for the right words. "I don't want to see you go through what I went through."

"Don't worry, Ranchan. I'll be careful," Ukyou said with a soft smile. "Besides, compared to your adventures, mine are nothing. Yeesh, I should have known it was you when I saw the tornado. Must have been one hell of a fight."

"Yeah, that was me alright." I grimaced at the memory. Torn buildings. Flying cars. Sirens all around. "Hell was the right word, too."

Ukyou's expression dropped. "You can't blame yourself, Ranchan. I know you did your best to keep it clean. You always do. But, when someone strong throws down, it isn't as if you can pull your punch."

The guilt refused to flee. Dozens dead. Thousands missing. Most of those were Chiyo's fault. But I didn't think before tossing that tornado out. A major technique like that? There was no telling how much damage it had done. How many people had _I_ killed today?

I shook my head and changed the subject. "Hey, Ucchan. You hear from Mom and Pop?"

"The Saotomes?" she asked. "They ducked out, Sugar. I don't know where, but I bet Hikaru does. Just a second." Ukyou poked her head into a makeshift hall. "Hey Hikaru!"

Hikaru stepped out of a side room. The salary man had a button up shirt thrown over his bare shoulder. With a lazy strut, he walked closer. He stopped a few paces away and scratched the stubble on his chin.

"You called?" he asked.

Ukyou pulled back, startled. Her head snapped to the side.

"Why is everyone is sneaking up on me today?" she grumbled. She made a thumbing notion toward me. "Hikaru, Ranchan wants to know where the Tendo's took off to."

"Hecate disappeared them," Hikaru said. "Didn't ask where." He let out a slow yawn. "Konatsu is firing up your grill again. Thought you'd like to know."

"That idiot," Ukyou growled. "How many times have I told him..." The brown haired girl shot me a look. "Sorry, Ranchan. I've got to run."

Ukyou flashed a smile then dashed off amongst the wooden panels. "Konatsu. when I get my hands on you-"

The voice trailed off, stifled by the nooks and crannies. I laughed, joy bubbling from my chest. I felt refreshed. It was good to see the simple things again.

Hikaru settled on the couch's back. I continued leaning against it.

"If you say 'I told you so', I'll knock your block off," I warned.

Hikaru offered a lazy grin. "And I would have it coming." The blond's smile vanished. "Glad you made it out. Not many do."

I looked away and grunted. "More luck than skill."

Hikaru slapped me on the back. Hard. "Give yourself some credit, kid. Skill makes luck."

"Not enough of it," I murmured in answer.

I shook my head. Enough depressing thoughts. Instead, I faced Hikaru. The sandy haired man looked tired and worn. It was hard to be angry. Hikaru had been a friend from the beginning. But 'the beginning' had new meaning these days.

"You weren't surprised I was here," I observed. "How much did you know?"

Hikaru's smile turned sheepish. The man scratched his chin and looked away. "Probably not as much as you think. But I can put two and two together."

My eyes narrowed. "About Chiyo? The Institute?"

"Whoa," Hikaru said. He waved his hands defensively. "Chiyo, yeah. I knew about her. I was Hecate's go between. The Institute," Hikaru grimaced. "Can't say I did. I suspected something was up. But I never asked what."

"You never asked?" I growled.

Hikaru sighed. "Kid. I have been running this gig for a long time. I know how Hecate plays her game. And I know I won't like how she plays it. So I don't ask." Hikaru shook his head. "Tell you what. If you want a free shot, take it."

Hikaru cocked his head to the side, offering his cheek. My hand curled into a fist. Sickness curdled inside me while I trembled on the threshold of decision. Finally, I tore my eyes away. I had enough of hitting people who wouldn't fight back. Setsuna had deserved it a hell of a lot more.

A smile peeked through my gloom. "I think I'll take a rain check on that," I teased.

"Hey! It's use it or lose it," Hikaru cried.

My eyes narrowed. "You waffling on me?" I threatened. "Cause, when I think about it, I haven't gotten back at you for the sewers."

"Come on, man," Hikaru pleaded. "That was an honest mistake."

I wagged a finger, unable to hide my grin. "I'm not the guy backing out on a man-to-man promise."

"Electrocute a guy once and he will never let you forget it," Hikaru complained. His joking tone vanished. "Sorry about before."

I frowned. "Sorry about what?"

"About being a jerk," Hikaru explained. The sandy-haired man slid off the couch. He meandered across the room then settled on a table. "This gig ain't easy, kid. Some days it feels like I'm throwing pebbles at a giant. I keep count, you know, of the girls I've saved. That is how I stay sane. When I lose one, the count goes down. That is the worst feeling."

My eyes dropped. Hikaru's warnings were like ghosts. Why had I ignored him? Why did I shoot off my mouth time and again? It was me who had been mistaken.

"It wasn't like you were wrong," I answered quietly.

"Yeah, well, I didn't have to be a jerk about it," Hikaru said. He paused before continuing in a soft voice. "Kid, I know I am stepping over the line here, but you should to talk to someone."

Anger flared. With a hop, I was off the couch and facing the blond. "Don't go there. I don't even want to _think_ about the Institute right now."

Hikaru sighed. "I get it. I get it. But, kid, holding this kind of shit in will mess you up. Believe me. I have seen it." The man's gaze drifted to the warehouse's metal ceiling. "I know a few guys. Professionals. The kind that won't ask stupid questions."

"I don't need a shrink," I growled. "As far as I'm concerned, the whole thing never happened."

Except it did happen. My jaw clenched and my mind was on edge. With tense fear, I awaited the agony that punished my manhood. It never came. But the tension would not leave.

And that wasn't all.

My skin felt as though it were two sizes too small. I didn't fit in this body anymore. Most likely, I never would. My mind had been warped. My soul had been twisted. The Institute had changed me, and I had changed myself.

There was no going back. Deep down, I knew it. But, if only for a little while, I wanted to hold on to the illusion it could.

"I'm not going to push, kid, but my offer stands. Hell, if you change your mind five years from now, I'll still help," Hikaru said. "But, kid, you have to let it go. It might sound vile, but everyone changes. Life moves on. Shit. When you get right down to it, that's a good thing. If not, the two of us would still be sucking on our mothers' teats."

"You want me me to give up?" I said, disbelieving. "To let the Institute win?"

"That's not it."

Hikaru stopped for a while, his face twisting into a grimace. I didn't interrupt his thoughts. Instead, I waited in silence. Eventually, the older man let out a sigh.

"I guess what I am trying to saying is: don't waste your life chasing after the past. Look to the future," he explained. "Find in yourself all the good shit and hold onto that. Don't ever let it go. And I'm not talking about love, happiness, or any of that crap either. When I say 'good shit' I mean the things that make you a good person. A person you can be proud being. All the rest?" Hikaru's expression twisted and he shrugged. "Let it fall where it may."

I snorted. "That is easy for you to say."

"It ain't easy, kid," Hikaru said with worn laugh. "It never is. But, ask yourself this: will the world end if you wear a skirt instead of slacks? Hell. You could say the same about liking boys instead of girls. That shit is small potatoes."

My eyes narrowed, but Hikaru lifted a forestalling hand.

"It's not what you're thinking, kid. What I'm saying is, a man has only got so much energy. You burn it holding onto meaningless crap and you won't have any left for the things that matter."

"So I should save it all for the 'good shit'?"

"Yeah," Hikaru said, nodding wisely. "The good shit."

I settled back onto the couch. Swinging my legs, I leaned back as far as was safe. "Small potatoes," I murmured. "Guess I never thought of it that way."

I lifted a hand. Five strong digits. With them, I could tear through iron. A month in the Institute had softened my hand. Tenki had worked its magic, reshaping my body in its delicate image. Nails poked over the tips, feminine additions to a manly appendage.

Who was I?

But maybe that was the wrong question. I was young. People change. For me, it was hard to imagine the future. Mostly because I had never sought one. For all my life, I had been content to let Pop railroad me into his vision.

Not that I would admit that out loud.

So, who did I want to be? No. That, too, was the wrong question. Adults lied to children. They told them they could be anything. Reality was crueler. Humans were born with loves, talents, and hatreds. Those things shaped us. I was a master of the martial arts because those factors had aligned. A love for competition. Talent for combat. A hatred for losing. It was that combination that drove me. Without every one of those, I would never have reached the same heights.

Who could I be? That was the right question.

The problem was, I didn't know. My nature had changed. It terrified me. I was scared of changing and scared of staying the same. There was no path forward or back. But should I be scared? In all my life, I had never thought to myself: I want a different favorite color. My favorite was my favorite. That was it. There was no rhyme nor reason to it.

Life did not ask what we want to like. Cruelly, it shoved new truths down our throats. For young boys girls were icky. Then, suddenly, they were interesting. Such was the callousness of biology.

So why was I worrying about these things now?

My hand tightened into a fist.

I was Ranma Saotome, the best damn martial artist the world had ever seen. I would stand and fight, no matter how strong my foes, no matter how stupid the battles, no matter how foolish my fate. I did not walk away then. I would not walk away now.

Hikaru was right. Holding onto _that_ was important. Everything else? Small potatoes.

"You are right," I admitted, more to myself than him. "Not sure I can pull it off, though. I want to fight. I want to win. Letting myself change, saying it doesn't matter, it feels like I am giving up."

"Kid, you don't have to find all your answers now," Hikaru laughed. He motioned at himself. "Look at me. I still don't know who I am, much less who I want to be. Hell, I bet most people die of old age without answering that question."

"I'd like to figure it out sooner than that," I joked back. A small smile teased my lips. It was quick to vanish. "Do you trust her?"

Hikaru paused for a second then realized the subject had changed. "Hecate?" he asked. "Kid, the thing you've got to know about Hecate is: she's big picture only. You? Me? We are pieces on her board. She'll throw us away in the blink of an eye."

"I figured that much," I retorted. "Do you trust her?"

Hikaru gave a guarded look and said nothing.

"Damn it, Hikaru, don't start that 'I've got to protect you from yourself' crap again," I warned.

"Shit," Hikaru complained. "Yeah, I trust her. I don't like the way Hecate does things, but I've never disagreed with her results."

"So you do what she says," I filled in.

Hikaru gave a weak shrug. "An army needs a general. Hecate is not the nicest one, but she knows her shit." Hikaru paused, his eyes searching. "Kid, I don't know what Hecate has dragged you into. Hell, I don't want to know. But don't get in a rush to throw your life away. That woman's plans have plans. We'll do fine without you."

I glanced at Hikaru. The sandy-haired man was thirty, at best. In the eyes of this world, he was barely an adult.

"You are not a whole lot older than me, Hikaru," I replied. "Maybe you should follow your own advice."

"Ha," Hikaru laughed. "You've got a point there, kid. But don't worry about me. Stories like mine. They don't end well."

_Bound by the red shackles of fate_. The words hit me in remembrance. Hikaru was tied to Chiyo by bonds of magical love. It was hard to imagine. Those two were night and day. How does a story end when a good man loves a woman of irredeemable evil?

Badly.

I closed my eyes and looked away. I couldn't pick up Hikaru's burden. I was already weighed down by my own.

Hikaru hopped off the table and strode over to the television. "I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this heavy shit. Let's have some fun. Take your pick. We've got books and booze, a TV that picks up ten channels, and a Famicom."

With a lopsided smile, Hikaru plucked a plastic gun off the shaggy carpet. A black cord stretched from the device to connect to a box shaped machine. "I challenge you to a game of Duckhunt," he said with dead seriousness.

I laughed. "You're on, buddy."

-oOo-

"I am Ranma Saotome."

I spoke the words. My reflection echoed them back.

Gorgeous, blue eyes were tinged with invasive amethyst. Long, red hair brushed the blades of my shoulders. Light makeup accentuated the features of my face. In the silver, I saw a girl, pretty and feminine.

It wasn't me.

I wanted to say that. But, in many ways, this sight was familiar. Often I had glimpsed this face. The cuteness contest against Tsubasa. The disguises used to outwit Ryouga. Time spent teaching Copy-chan.

Ranma, the girl.

But, back then, she had been an illusion. A mask to be donned then removed. Today the reflection was real.

I had snuck out at dawn, too embarrassed to let others know of my decision and yet too driven to back down. While I was out, I encountered Hotaru. The young girl had speared me with her silent glares. No words had been spoken. We had sat in silence while she healed my leg.

And what was there to say? Sorry about smacking your mom? I wasn't sorry. She had it coming? Hotaru did not understand my frustration, and, no matter my anger, I could not ruin her relationship. My suffering was not a weight to be placed on the shoulders of a child.

So we parted ways. To here, I returned. That was how I came to be in front of a mirror, dressed as a girl.

Curiously, I bundled my hair between my hands. I lifted the tufts so that it fell to either side of my head in short ponytails. The image, drawn from my megami no ooi, tore a hole in my heart. I felt the sick gap yawning wide. Did I hate this? Did I love this? My emotions were so twisted by the fear of losing myself that I could not tell one from the other.

I shuddered and let go. The locks cascaded down my back.

"Later," I promised myself. I would force myself to try that style. Then I would keep it until I understood my feelings.

Set in my resolve, I plucked a length of plain, black ribbon from the table. With it, I tied my hair back in a loose pony tail. I eyed my reflection. I was wearing a short, black skirt, thigh high socks, and a red top. It was, in a way, a copy of the clothes I had favored as a man.

"What am I doing?"

My reflection did not answer.

But it didn't need to. Hikaru's words had sunk in. Not because he spouted wisdom, but because his words were already my own. I had killed Denial. In doing so, I had set my vow in stone. The girl reflected was Ranma Saotome. That was truth.

I knew it. But knowing was not enough. I needed to embraceit.

To me, the Institute had been Hell. The flames it cast had devoured me. I was a ruined, molten lump. I could wallow in that loss forever, dreaming of better days, trying to be what I no longer was. Or I could move forward, take what the Institute had left, and forge myself anew.

It was an easy choice to make and a hard one to carry out. To move forward, I had to cast aside my prejudice. It was terrifying, to willfully change myself in ways I had resisted. Male or female? No longer of consequence. Pretty or Plain? An irrelevant detail. For a sword, only one thing mattered. Did it cut?

I, Ranma Saotome, would be sharper than ever.

Martial Artist. That was the core of my soul. My skill and strength were my greatest gifts. My unshakable resolve was my most potent feature. I would rise from the ashes. The Institute had thought to destroy me. Instead, it had made me stronger.

That was my will. With eyes of iron, I glared at my reflection. The pretty girl gazed back, undaunted by her future.

"I am Ranma Saotome."

_Knock. Knock_.

I jerked. My heart thudded heavy in my chest. I sucked in a breath and laughed at my nervousness.

I glanced at the mirror. Girl. Embarrassment filtered through me. I forced it down. With squared shoulders, I marched to the door and threw it open.

Ukyou. The brown haired girl lowered her hand.

"Ranchan?" Ukyou blinked a few times. "Why are you a girl?"

My eyes narrowed. I didn't want to talk about this right now. It was hard enough to make myself travel this road. I didn't need other people butting in and thrusting their own thoughts and feelings amongst mine.

"I felt like it," I said.

"You're wearing a skirt," she observed.

I nearly growled. Nonchalant was not going to work. I switched to vapid cuteness. I twirled on my toe, letting Ukyou see my entire outfit.

"Well? What do you think?" I said, offering a pretty smile.

Ukyou let out a short laugh. "It isn't you." The girl's humor faded quickly. "Ranchan, are you feeling okay?"

"Not me?" I said, innocently. "Oh my. I wonder where I went wrong? Oh! It's the shoes isn't it? I knew I should have worn heels. Flats are so unflattering."

"Ranchan, stop avoiding the question," Ukyou snapped. "Why are you a girl?"

With a sigh, I abandoned my act. "I wanted to give it a try," I answered honestly. "Can we drop it, Ucchan? I don't want to talk about it."

"And since when did you start trying to be a girl," Ukyou demanded.

"Since now," I shot back. I jabbed my friend in the collar. "And what about you? Why are you here?"

I wasn't the only one acting odd. Ukyou, by habit, chose clothes from the masculine side of the gender gap. It wasn't uncommon for her to bind her ample breasts. Depending on her mood, it could be hard to tell Ukyou was a woman.

Today there was no question. Ukyou was a flower of womanhood. A beautiful, blue sundress graced her curves. Jewels sparkled in her ears. Heels bound her feet. The strange femininity was made all the odder by the bandoleer of shurikens thrown over her shoulder.

"Ranchan," Ukyou pushed. "If you need to-"

I glared. "Drop it."

"If you insist," she said. Ukyou took a deep breath. The girl straightened her posture then looked me in the eye. "I've got a huge favor to ask."

"Ucchan, I know I'm trying the girl thing, but don't you think it's a little early for fashion advice?" I teased.

Ukyou laughed. "And I was worried you had gone girly," Ukyou joked. "No. That isn't it, Ranchan. I need your help with tenki."

I froze. Suddenly, Ukyou's state of dress made sense.

"No."

"Ranchan-"

"No," I said again. My eyes were steel. "You are not ready, Ucchan. Tenki would kill you."

Irritation flashed across Ukyou's face. "Ranchan-" she growled

"I said no," I repeated stubbornly.

The girl stepped forward and shoved her face into mine. Her brown eyes were narrowed slits. "Ranchan, would you listen for just one second?"

I paused then reluctantly stepped back, inviting Ukyou into my room.

"You can talk," I said, showering her with my skepticism. "But, unless you have a damn good reason, the answer stays 'no'."

_Bang! _ The thin, plywood door slammed closed. Ukyou stomped into the room. Once she was at the center, she whirled to face me.

"Ranchan, I'm asking because I need your help," she growled. Despite her obvious anger, she kept her voice even. "I know tenki is dangerous. I know it can kill me. That is why I came to you. Don't you get it? I'm trying to do this right."

I raised a brow. Silently, I conveyed my question: _and this is supposed to change my mind?_

"Don't give me that look," she snapped. "And don'tthink that I will sit this out either. I'm not waiting around for prince charming. I don't like being helpless, Ranchan. And, with the Institute running amok, you are not doing me a favor leaving me that way."

I sighed and sat on the edge of my bed, my knees pressed together. Ukyou had a point. Without tenki, she was an easy target. With it, Ukyou had a chance to defend herself. And, when it came down to it, I needed the fire power.

I sighed. "I get it, Ucchan. But what, exactly, am I supposed to do about it?" I asked. "If you can't tenki, you can't tenki." I shook my head. "What I did was stupid. I'm lucky to be alive. If I had collapsed anywhere but the Institute, I would probably be dead."

And that was the crux of it. Tenki was a fatal technique.

"You are not ready, Ucchan," I finished.

"You don't know that, Ranchan," Ukyou countered. "I've been preparing for this. I spent the last month purifying myself. It's the technique that is giving me trouble." Ukyou let out an exasperated breath. "I don't know how you did it. Shuken, haigeki, and a megami no ooi at the same time? While enduring a transformation? I can barely handle two at once."

I closed my eyes. Fine. I would give her a chance. A pair of glasses formed from thin air. I put them on. Aura mode flickered to life. The lenses painted Ukyou in a sheet of blue. Strips of ragged violet ran through her aura, a contamination driven deep by the folding of her spirit.

My expression faded. I couldn't dismiss her out of hand. But a mere aura wasn't an indication of readiness, either. I stood and turned aura mode off. I left the glasses in place. It felt right.

"Let me see your megami no ooi," I said.

Ukyou settled into a meditative pose. I watched, striding around her so as to see the aura from all angles. Her spirit formed slowly, a thin film of distorted air too weak to shed a glow.

A megami no ooi.

A weak one, far from perfection. Just by breathing, I exuded an aura that surpassed Ukyou's. But that was an improper measure. These days I could summon tenki as easy as breathing. Instead, I compared Ukyou's spirit against the memory of mine on the eve of my fist transformation. Was her beauty purer?

Yes. I grimaced. I had been wrong. Tenki was within Ukyou's reach.

She let out a breath. "That is the best I can do, Sugar. I can give haigeki and shuken a try. But my control is pretty shaky."

I nodded. A month of purifications would have prepared Ukyou's body. Tenki would be much less damaging to her than it had been to me. It might even be safe.

"You are close," I admitted. "A few months of ki training and you could pull it off. But, Ucchan, I am not seeing where I can help."

Ukyou stretched, easing the kinks from her limbs. "All I need, Ranchan, is a boost. You work your magic and hold my megami no ooi in place. I'll take care of the transformation. That's how they did it in the Institute. Or did you think they actually taught those girls enough to pull off tenki on their own?"

Now the Ukyou had mentioned it, the concept was obvious. Since I already had tenki, it was easy for me to put Ukyou's aura in a near perfect state. With that issue handled, Ukyou's would be free to concentrate on shuken and haigeki. If that didn't prove to be enough, I could give her a nudge to get her started.

It was an amazingly simple method. Using it, anyone with sufficient spiritual power could gain tenki. The only obstacle it left in place was teaching the girls how to use their spiritual power sufficiently well to handle the final step.

Of course, it came at a price. By using shuken, I imposed my concept of beauty. That, in turn, would warp Ukyou's megami no ooi, and thus her transformation.

If that was all, I would have said yes right then. But I was XT-11. A magical girl factory. Michiko had spent countless hours reshaping my spirit so that I would have the ability to forcefully generate magical girl slaves.

What if I slipped? What if I used that power on Ukyou? I didn't know how my magic worked. Without intending it, I could turn Ukyou into a toy. I didn't want that. I didn't want her to be bound to me like Emiko.

The thought alone made me want to vomit.

"Your tenki would be influenced by mine."

It was a weak argument. No. It was an excuse. I was afraid of my power. A fear that was unfounded. I would not make a mistake. There would be no accident. Magical girl magic was forged from fantasy. The user's intent was deeply interwoven. Enslaving Ukyou would not happen...

... unless I wanted it too.

My guts twisted further. The truth was revealed. What I feared was myself.

"Sugar, I'll admit I don't like your style. All that pink and frills? Ugh!" Ukyou said in disgust. "But I'm a girl. Cute won't kill me."

"Figured as much," I mumbled.

I stepped in front of Ukyou. Ki flowed over me in a blanket of violet light. Clothing warped. My shirt and skirt transformed into a pink dress. My hair split into a pair of satin pigtails. Tenki.

"Are you sure about this, Ucchan?" I asked. My voice was light and melodious. "Even if I help, you might die. My ki will poison your megami no ooi. The damage will be worse than if you did this on your own."

"I am ready, Ranchan," Ukyou said with determination. "If I could, I would have asked back at the Institute. That way I would have been at your side when you went to save Akane."

I gave a grim smile. "Good thing you didn't. You would have ended up like me."

Ukyou's smile was fierce. "Don't be so sure about that, Ranchan. An extra hand can make all the difference in the world."

I closed my eyes. Fool. Ukyou was stuck in my past. She did not comprehend how powerful the Institute was. Tenki would make her stronger, yes. Strong enough to overpower the majority of the Institute. But the Institute didn't have a power curve. It had a power cliff. Akina and Michiko stood head and shoulders above the rest. Chiyo, Gondul, and Artemis were titans looming over ants.

But Gondul was dead, and Chiyo had defected.

"So be it," I said. "But we are doing this _my_ way. That means, until I say otherwise, your ass is mine. We train until you bleed. Then, I will train you some more. Got it?"

"Bring it, Sugar. I'll take your worst and beg for more," Ukyou challenged.

An evil smile spread across my lips. "You say that now," I whispered. "But, you've never been on one of Pop's training trips." I chuckled. The low, malevolent voice filled the room.

Ukyou's eagerness faded. The girl stepped back. "Uh, Ranchan?"

"Don't worry, Ucchan. I will take good care of you," I said sweetly. "Trust me."

-oOo-

_Thwack! Crack! _ Gungnir flashed twice. The spear smashed across Ukyou's legs then crashed into her back. The girl hit the ground in a heap.

"Pathetic," I declared. "Try again."

I walked away without a backward glance. With a bored casualness, I jammed Gungnir in the grass. In my left hand, I held a textbook. It was that to which I devoted my attention. I had a month of classwork to catch up on. Yeah. It sounded insane, but the Institute had ground into me study habits. Habits I intended to keep.

Ukyou groaned then rose to her feet. Grass fell from her dress, the green stains fading. With heavy breaths, she brought her combat spatula into position. "Damn it, Ranma," she huffed. "Can you at least _pretend_ to pay attention?"

I glanced up.

Ukyou wore an outfit of pink and lavender. The dress included a short skirt and a stitched on apron. Sparkling lace puffed from every gap. Her bare arms were garnished by ruffled wristlets, and her silky legs were wrapped in ribbon. Platform shoes, with blocky heels, capped Ukyou's feet. She looked like a fanciful idol dressed as a chef.

"I will when you give me something worth paying attention to," I replied. My eyes dropped to my textbook. I quirked my glasses then scribbled a note.

Exhausted, Ukyou set the tip of her spatula on the ground. She leaned on the handle while gathering her breath. "I am beginning to understand why Akane gets so frustrated," she muttered. "Okay, Ranchan, tell me what I'm doing wrong."

The book snapped closed. "Akane gets frustrated because she never asks that question," I replied. "What have you figured out?"

"You're faster than me and more skilled to boot?" Ukyou retorted. She pushed off the handle of her weapon then hefted it over a shoulder. "Other than that? My spatula's shoot lasers. No matter how many I throw, I always have more. Also, I can float about ten of them around me."

Nearly a dozen white bursts encompassed Ukyou. Small spatulas crystallized from thin air. They formed a floating arch. The curve started at Ukyou's left hip, swung over her head, then stopped on her right. Light glinted off the flats of the tools, bright enough to burn my eyes. Ten heat rays lanced across the field.

With elegant steps, I danced to the side. The beams cut black paths through the grass.

I gave Ukyou a sidelong look. The girl ignored me in favor of her tools.

"I wonder if I can use these to cook?" she mused. The spatulas dived forward and made flipping motions as though tending to imaginary food.

"Cooking?" I shook my head, hiding my laughter. "You get magic and the first thing you think about is food."

Ukyou pirouetted, glittery light sparkling around her. She stopped in a girlish pose, her right leg raised and her fingers held in the shape of a heart. "Magical chef Ucchan, ready to cook a dish full of love," she said with a wink and a giggle.

"Har har." I set a hand on my hip, my eyes stern. "That wasn't what I meant. I was asking if you had figured out how to break my defense."

Ukyou spread her arms. "I'm clueless, Ranchan. I wouldn't ask otherwise."

I frowned. "You can't see my aura flex?"

"Ranchan, I'm not a martial arts genius. I didn't spend the last ten years of my life on a training trip," Ukyou replied. "I'm good, but, Sugar, you're in a whole different league."

The gap between Ukyou and me, I had forgotten how big it was. To me, it felt as though I were a novice. The spiritual aspects of the art were something I had delved into recently. As Pop always said, the advanced stuff is for when you are old and wrinkly. He had a point. The basics of ki – reinforcement, awareness, and projection – came naturally as part of a good training regime. It was only when the spirit was strong and the senses attuned that advanced ki manipulation became possible.

Ukyou was only now stepping into the world where ki was a force bent to conscious will. She was like a child who had learned long division. The course I had set before her was calculus.

She couldn't make the intuitive leap. She didn't have the experience. She didn't have the background. Most important of all, she couldn't see what was staring her in the face.

"Sorry about that," I said.

I tapped the rims of my glasses while walking forward. The cursor cycled through modes until I found the right one. After that, I pulled the glasses off and shoved them onto Ukyou's face.

"Better?" I asked.

Ukyou squinted, her eyes straining to see through the lenses. Blobs of transparent violet covered the glass. I didn't envy her. Aura mode had been built for science, not combat. This variation was particularly sensitive. It would leave her all but blind.

"Violet means magical girl," I explained. "Ki excites nearby air molecules. The glasses pick up the electro-magnetic emissions. The frequency pattern of a magical girl's aura is pretty distinct, which makes it easy to filter for. They show other kinds of magic too, usually in green, but not nearly as well."

"The what is the what is the what?" Ukyou asked.

I chuckled and scratched the back of my head. "Sorry. Guess I spent too much time with Michiko," I apologized. Odd, to be the one giving such a speech. But it wasn't a bad sort of odd. "In Ranma words: Ki glows. Different kinds glow different colors. The glasses make ki glow brighter so normal people can see it."

"Everyone in Nerima knows ki glows," Ukyou grumbled. "The violet stuff is your aura, right?"

I quirked a grin. "Wrong. Some of that is yours. Here. Watch for a second."

I grasped shuken. My aura quivered in response. I swung the magic left then right. Air wavered under the force of my dominion. Grass rippled under the pressure. Flowers sprang from the earth, their petals unfolding under the power of my influence.

"I see it now," Ukyou said, excitedly. "So that's what an aura looks like."

I nodded. "What I used was shuken. Shuken is, in essence, sovereignty. It imposes my will on this world. Basically, by using it, I am declaring: _this here is the kingdom of Ranma__,__ and all within shall be forever beautiful._" I flowed into a deep, epic voice while delivering the final line.

Ukyou laughed. "Sounds like a waste of energy, if you ask me."

"It comes with the package," I said with a shrug. "And don't be so quick to dismiss it. Shuken is more powerful than you think." I paused and switched to a haughty princess voice. "Indeed, an elegant lady such as me could never be touched by a clumsy buffoon like yourself."

I tapped my foot and raised a brow. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"Wait. Hit you? Now?" Ukyou asked. She hefted her combat spatula. "Don't mind if I do."

With a sharp swing, Ukyou sliced through my after image. Shuken reacted. I floated back, a ghost that could not be touched. My aura tumbled around me, water stirred by intrusive force.

Ukyou paused. She squinted and tweaked the glasses. "Your aura went crazy. Is that what you wanted me to see?"

"Yes," I answered. "Shuken is the basis of a magical girl's defense. It imposes upon this world law. In this case, the law was 'I can't be hit'. However, that law can be broken. The fastest way is to destroy or warp the girl's shuken."

Ukyou frowned. "So, what you are saying is, I could break through if I attacked fast enough?"

"That would work," I agreed. "But it isn't practical. Shuken is strong against physical attacks. Plus, my dodge back there was pure magic. If I had instead worked with my shuken, the damage would have been smaller. Keep that in mind. It'll save your life."

I walked backward a few steps so that there were ten meters between the two of us.

"Enough explanation. Hit me again. This time with magic."

Ukyou smiled, looking a bit too happy. "Sure thing, Ranchan."

Light glinted off the spatulas arched over Ukyou's head. Energy beams lashed out. Shuken screamed. Like steel swords, Ukyou's magic sliced through my aura. I stood still, forcing law to bend to my will. My hands danced in answer, plucked by strings of magic rather than nerves. I whirled into motion. Beams of light were slapped aside.

My game came to a rude end.

In the shadow of her attack, Ukyou flung a brace of spatulas. The shuriken streaked in like homing missiles. Against this new assault, my fractured shuken could not hold.

But I refused to bow. This was training for Ukyou and for myself. Relying on my martial arts would teach me nothing. Instead, I stole from Akina's book.

With force of will, I seized my aura. The ocean of spirit sloshed forward. Glimmers of pink refracted as it moved, energy wasted. My shuken condensed, overwhelming Ukyou's magic. My law was evoked. My body responded.

Like a puppet, I was dragged into the air. There I fluttered, an angel cavorting through heaven. Ribbons floated around me. With the softest touch they brushed the weapons askew.

"Magical cook shining smack down!" Ukyou screamed.

Ukyou held her battle spatula high. White light shined off the steel face, the surface a hundred times broader than that of her shuriken. A mighty ray blazed out. Gritting my teeth, I abandoned shuken. Instead, I threw myself to the side. The beam lashed out behind me, pulverizing grass, cutting across curb, then melting asphalt of the parking lot beyond.

I glared. "Hey! When I said hit me, I meant hit me once!"

The chef tossed her brown hair and teased me with an innocent pose. "But, Ranchan, I haven't hit you yet."

I rolled my eyes and gave an annoyed huff. "Well? Did you see?"

"Yeah," Ukyou answered, lowering her weapon. "The beams had a much bigger effect. So magic first, then melee, right?"

I nodded. "That's the heart of it. Ki pushes. Haigeki rejects. Combine the two factors and you'll have a potent weapon against shuken." I paused then gave a warning look. "Strength matters here, Ucchan. If the girl is stronger, you'll have to push a lot harder to break her aura."

Ukyou's smile turned into a frown. Her eyes reflected worry. "I don't like the sound of that."

"You shouldn't," I replied. "But harder doesn't mean impossible." I paused, thinking. "The best way to explain it is to imagine two guys fighting in hand-to-hand. The difference between you and me? That's like a seventy-kilo guy fighting a hundred-kilo guy. I can take more and deal more. But, if I got sloppy, you could win."

"Bigger equals badder," Ukyou said, nodding.

"Yes, it does. And, Ukyou, keep in mind magical girls can get really, really strong," I warned, thinking of Chiyo. "Enough of that. Did you see what I did while defending?"

Ukyou shook her head. "The glasses make everything squiggly. After the first attack, all I could see was purple." The brown haired girl removed the lenses. She blinked several times to adjust her vision. "Thanks, Ranchan, but these are giving me headache. Now that I've got the gist of things, you can have them back."

Ukyou extended her hand. I took the glasses and fitted them on my nose. A tap on the rims restored clarity.

"Since you didn't catch it, I'll explain," I said. "Your first attack pretty much shattered my shuken. If I had been a normal girl, the follow up would have caught me."

"You don't have to boost my ego, Ranchan. Lay it to me straight."

I shook my head. "I'm serious, Ucchan. Most of the girls in the Institute don't know jack about combat."

Ukyou frowned. I could see a hint of doubt in her expression. "I'll take your word for it. Now tell me about this 'special defense' of yours. From what I saw, you were dodging like normal."

"I wasn't dodging, Ucchan. Up until the last stroke, that was shuken."

Ukyou raised a brow. "Oh? And here I thought I 'shattered' it with the first attack."

"And you did," I replied. "I blocked your follow up with the broken pieces. I figure it could be a useful trick for extending survival time when in a pinch. Be careful how you use it, though. It did all sorts of nasty things to my recovery time." I paused and cocked my head to the side. "I wonder. If I tweaked it right, I might be able to squeeze out another attack or two. Still needs experimentation."

I shook my head. "But never mind that. You can practice defense later. For now, I want you to learn an anti magical girl technique I developed called _ikisasu_. It works by-"

"Wait. Experiment?" Ukyou gave me a dirty look. "Don't tell me you've been making this up as you go along," she accused.

I went deadpan. "Ucchan, I've transformed all of three times."

"Fraud! Fraud!" Ukyou cried teasingly. "I object to this treatment. I demand an accredited instructor, not a sham dragged off the street!"

I gave my friend a nasty look. "Well, you're going to have to suck it up because this fraud is all you got. And stop your whining. My old man would have been feeding you lies for weeks. Kids these days. They have things so easy," I lamented.

"Ha! Says the teacher who beats her student with a stick. That's corporal punishment, you criminal," Ukyou joked back.

"Corporal punishment? Keep mouthing off like and I'll show you-"

I froze. Cinnamon tickled my nose. An enormous aura spilled over the street. Faint. Dispersed. Deadly. I turned even before hearing the sound of tires rolling over concrete.

One by one, a trio of black vans crawled to a stop in the parking lot. Doors opened. Beautiful girls stepped out. Each wore a dress of white laced with black. The dark ties and loose blazers gave the impression of suits. A gothic lolita joined them, her clothes as dark as midnight. Kodachi stood aside, offering a hand gloved in black lace.

Chiyo rose from within, a coterie of attendants gathered around her.

I yanked Gungnir from the ground and stalked forward. Chiyo's guards stirred nervously. Behind me, Ukyou shifted into a cautious stance. I barely noticed. I had eyes for one.

"Why are you here?" I asked dangerously.

"That's a poor way to greet a guest, Ranma-chan," Chiyo answered.

The tiny girl gestured. Her attendants parted. Chiyo floated closer, her long, ruffled dress sweeping over the grass. She offered a mocking smile. "Don't tell me. You didn't know, did you? Hecate is such a manipulative bitch."

My muscles tightened. Setting Gungnir on my shoulder, I forced them lax. "If you want Hikaru, he's inside. If you want the spear, forget it. Try anything and I'll kill you."

Chiyo giggled from behind a hand. "Ranma-chan, you never cease to amuse," she sang, her voice dribbling malice. "Hikaru and I will catch up later. For now, let's pick up where we last left off."

My pulse quickened and a palpable sense of danger settled upon me. _Th-thud_. _Th-thud_. My heart beat hard. Could I win? Dared I try? For the first time, victory was possible. I had Gungnir. With it Chiyo could be slain.

A dark smile spread. The situation favored me. I stood upon an aching leg. Chiyo's gut had been perforated just yesterday.

"Left off last?" I asked, my fingers playing upon the spear's haft. "And what do you mean by that? The fight? The cocoon? The tea party?"

"You are such a tease, Ranma-chan. We're allies remember? Surely you don't think I am here to kill you?"

"Of course not," I answered guilelessly. Gungnir rolled from my shoulder, the blade slashing a hand-span to Chiyo's left. "And I promise I won't accidentally stab you. We are allies after all."

Chiyo unleashed a throaty laugh. "Wonderful! You are at your most beautiful when like that, Ranma-chan." Smiling wildly, Chiyo lifted a hand. _Snap!_ "Table please."

Chiyo's attendants scurried in answer. Table and chairs were quickly unpacked. The furniture was unfolded on the grass between us. Chiyo ran her fingers over the cheap wood. Her spirit surged. Godlike power ripped reality apart.

In a flash, the cruddy furniture was gone. Instead, I gazed upon a gorgeous table with wicker chairs. I recognized it. It was the same table Chiyo had invited me to sit at long ago.

A confused Ukyou approached.

"Ranchan?" the nervous girl whispered. "Am I missing something?"

My eyes flickered then returned to the demented angel up front. "Stay out of the way, Ucchan. Chiyo is not to be messed with," I warned.

With Ukyou dismissed, I stepped forward. Hesitantly, I set a hand on the white, wicker chair and pulled it back. I paused for a second then sat. Gungnir joined me, thrust into the ground at arm's length.

Kodachi stepped close. The gothic-lolita lifted an elegant pot and filled two floral cups with a steaming amber liquid.

"See how easy that was?" Chiyo mocked. "Imagine all the trouble you could have saved if you had done this in the first place."

I raised my cup, swirling the liquid within. "Poisoned, right?"

Chiyo's smile was broad. "Try it, dear, and find out," she said before taking a sip.

I cupped the vessel in both hands. With my ki, I crushed it. Haigeki shattered the teacup. Shuken repaired it. In a flash, porcelain fractured and reformed. The white surface bled into pink broken by vines of black.

Arrogantly, I lifted the transformed cup. I drank. A sickening syrup poured down my throat. I nearly gagged. The amber liquid was closer to honey than tea.

"Sweeter than I like," I said, trying to act nonchalant. I sampled it again, the candied nectar rolling over my tongue. "But not so bad when I am expecting it."

"It's an acquired taste," Chiyo replied. "One that grows on you the more you drink."

I snorted. "Yeah. Probably a whole lot more if I hadn't purified it first."

"You know me too well, dear," Chiyo laughed. "To be fair, had you fallen for such an obvious trap, you would have earned nothing but scorn."

"Aren't you full of mercy," I murmured.

I drank some more. The tartness seemed to fade with every sip.

"Cute dress," I commented. "Do you have a closet full of those things?"

Today's dress was yellow. The frilly folds of cloth covered Chiyo from head to toe. A pretty bonnet was settled on top, complementing Chiyo's chocolate hair. But no measure of cuteness could hide the rot. _Murderer_. Chiyo had killed dozens yesterday.

"How sweet," Chiyo sang. "For that, you deserve a reward. Kodachi-chan, fetch the trunk. It would be a shame if it went to waste."

"As you wish, Chiyo-sama," Kodachi answered.

The gothic girl did not move. It was the attendants that responded to Chiyo's will. They dashed about in their short skirted dresses. Quickly, they procured a large, leather suitcase. It took a pair to drag the hulk from the van's trunk and over to the table. The dishes rattled when they set it down.

I eyed the case cautiously. "And what is this?"

"A gift. A celebration of our alliance," Chiyo answered with devilish delight. "Or, if you prefer, coin earned with Gondul's death. It was so kind of you to help with that."

Chiyo's smile made my skin crawl. The girl clambered onto the table in her eagerness to show her offering. Dishes clattered as she brushed them aside. _Click. Click_. The trunk opened. Held within was an array of fluffy dresses, each cuter than the last.

"Don't worry, dear. They fit," Chiyo said. "I guarantee it."

"I bet they do." I set my cup down, hard. Liquid sloshed about the interior but failed to escape. "On the roof. When we met. Why were you there?"

"Done with the small talk already?" Chiyo teased. "What's the rush, Ranma-chan? Don't you want to play dress up first?" Chiyo's smile spread wider. "Or are you trying to convince yourself you like that trite dress you are wearing?"

Chiyo's venomous words cut. Against my will I flushed. It was a visceral reaction that made me aware of the plainness of my clothes. Forcefully, I redirected that feeling, transforming it into an angry glare.

Chiyo gave a mocking giggle. "The answer, dear, is simple. Hecate made you sound interesting. And, when it comes to interesting things, why, I can't help myself."

I grunted. "Interesting? Don't bullshit me. All you wanted was a pretty face to fill out your army."

"Wrong," Chiyo spat. The girl twisted so her back faced me. "Your stupidity is showing again, Ranma-chan. Try to do more than trot out the same tired lines. If I had wanted you in my cocoon, I would have put you there at the start."

I twirled my tea within its cup, resisting the urge to shove Gungnir through her skull. Chiyo was a whimsical sadist. She loved to play cruel games with the mice. On the roof, Chiyo had been toying with me. That had been my feeling then.

But, if I rejected that hypothesis...

"That was a test," I concluded.

"Yes. Yes. Finally you see," Chiyo proclaimed. "I wanted to see your worth. When Hecate told me about you, I didn't know what to do. Should I kill you? Should I keep you? Could we be friends? I had such high hopes."

Chiyo span again. Her elbows were on the table and her head in her hands. "Then you dashed them," she accused. "You were fool. A stupid dog strutting about, arrogant in your weakness. A mannequin dancing to the strings Hecate plucked. It was unforgivable. But you had potential. You understand, don't you? I had no choice. I couldn't leave you to Hecate or the Director. And, as much as I wanted to ruin their plans, I couldn't bring myself to kill you. What else was there to do?

"But you aren't a fool anymore, are you Ranma-chan?"

"Flattery goes a long way, you know," I replied. "Just tell me what you want and I'll decide whether I'll kill you now or later."

The girl's feet swung lazily in the air. "All I want, Ranma-chan, is to be the next director."

My face twisted. Chiyo? The director? "Hell no."

"Don't be like that, Ranma-chan. We can be friends instead of enemies," Chiyo cooed. "I will give you all the girls you want. Just tell me their names. Ten? Twenty? It doesn't matter to me."

"It matters to me," I said. "And why bother asking? I know you don't care what I think."

"It will be easier if a senshi endorses my position. Just think, Ranma-chan, of all the lives you'll save."

I set my forearms on the table and leaned forward. My eyes were narrowed slits. "You mean all the girls you won't kill."

A vile smile spread across the Chiyo's lips. "And if I don't kill them, won't you have saved them?" she said. Chiyo crawled two steps closer so that her nose touched mine. "Just say yes, sweetie. It will be fun. I promise."

"Your idea of fun and mine are very different."

"No they aren't," Chiyo breathed. The hot, velvety words licked my cheek. "I have seen you fight. The wild lust in your eyes. The hungry smile. You live for the fires of the war. It makes it you glow oh so beautifully."

"That-"

Delicate lips enveloped mine. Cinnamon invaded my mouth. I melted into the candy sweetness, my senses reeling from the suddenness of the kiss.

"Get off my Ranchan, you thieving cat!"

The angry roar stole my attention. Ukyou swung her spatula. Ropes of liquorice entangled the weapon before it could land. The brown haired girl tugged twice then ripped the spatula free.

"Out of my way, bitch," Ukyou spat.

"Te-he-he-hee," Kodachi laughed. "My mistress need not fear the blade of a peasant while I stand guard."

Chiyo slid off the table to land in my lap. She straddled me, the heat of her skin burning through the layers of cloth between us. She was small, soft, and intoxicatingly beautiful. The smell alone was enough to make me drunk.

Chiyo draped her arms over my shoulders. Like a lover, she leaned closer, her breasts pushing into mine. "Get rid of your toy, sweetness," she breathed into my ear. "Or I will get rid of her for you."

The threat cut through my inebriation. "I would murder you," I growled under my breath.

Chiyo pecked my lips. "Not before I killed her," she whispered between kisses. "You know how spiteful I can be."

"What the hell, Ranchan? Throw that bitch off!" Ukyou screamed.

Chiyo drew back. With an nasty expression, she grabbed a candy cane clip. I seized her wrist before she could draw her axe. She paused, her smile turning sly, then nuzzled up to my cheek. With light teeth, she nibbled the lobe of my ear.

With a shuddering breath, I forced my concentration back to Ukyou.

"Ucchan, I've got a handle on this," I said.

Ukyou's brown eyes were balls of fire. "Ranchan, you can't seriously be-"

Chiyo's teeth drew blood. Icy shivers ran down my spine as anger, fear, and lust mixed into a strange concoction.

"Ucchan, _LEAVE_!" My shout echoed through the desolate warehouse district.

"How dare-" Ukyou's rage stopped in mid word. She held herself still, her shoulder trembling with frustration. "Damn it! Fine. I get it. But you owe me one hell of an explanation for this."

With that, the angry cook took off. My shoulders sank with relief. Chiyo was crazy enough to carry out her threat, and I wasn't fast enough to stop her.

An instant, later my fury boiled anew.

"Get the off me," I growled.

Not waiting for an answer, I grabbed the girl and lifted her from my lap. Chiyo flashed a petulant smile. With dainty feet she found the table and pushed off. The chair tilted back. We crashed to the ground.

In the confusion, Chiyo found my lips. Her tongue slid in. Liquid candy. The heavenly flavor of cherries and cinnamon stole my senses. I sought it. I drank it. When the long, luxurious kiss came to a stop, I found that is was Chiyo pulling away from me.

Dizzily, I stared into chocolate eyes. I felt weak. Small. Wonderful. Desire ran through me in an electric current. It begged me to give in. To relax. To surrender. To please.

"Let's become lovers, Ranma-chan," Chiyo cooed.

My lips parted, an offering to her. I faded away as she claimed them. It felt right. Natural. Take me. Use me. I shivered at the thoughts, my heart beating so loud I could hear nothing else. My mind sank further into fog.

_Monster._

Strength flooded my limbs. I rolled. Chiyo was plucked from atop then slammed against the ground. Her bonnet fell lose. Short, brown hair splayed over the grass. Our chests heaved at one, quickened by passion.

Her angelic lips parted into a devilish smile. A craving hit. I shivered and tried to drown lust in hatred.

"I'm not your anything, Chiyo."

Chiyo twirled us again. She pinned me against the ground. Her smile was decadent malice. "How cute, saying those words when you don't mean them. Admit it, Ranma-chan. You want this. Shizue's claws have dug deep."

Doll. A sickness spread through my gut. When had I slipped into that role? Why was I lying here, waiting for Chiyo to claim me. To use me. And she was right. I wanted it. I wanted to be pinned to the ground. To be consumed by her lust. My body thrummed with a need to submit.

And why not? If it was her, there would be no bond to break. Chiyo, I could taste and feel no guilt and no obligation. Because she was a monster. My muscles weakened. I relaxed, waiting for that one taste of utter submission.

No. Not a _doll_.

Fury broke the stalemate and I threw Chiyo into the air. I was on my feet in an instant. With my right hand, I seized Gungnir. I whirled. Chiyo recoiled, sharp steel centimeters from her throat. Her playful expression evaporated into hate.

"Are you refusing me?"

"I won't help you, Chiyo," I said firmly.

"And why not?" she snapped. "Someone has to control the Institute. Why shouldn't it be me? I have no interest in Artemis's plan. I will free whatever girl you wish. Can you name anyone better?" Chiyo challenged. "Support me as director."

She was right. When Artemis died, someone would have to take over. Michiko, Kamiko, Akina, they would continue Artemis's dream. That was what they had been programmed to do. Who else was-

Ah. So simple. Why didn't I see it before?

"No," I said, with absolute conviction. "The next director will not be you, Chiyo. It will be me."

"You? The director?" Chiyo burst into gales of laughter. "Stupid girl. There isn't anyone less suitable. You would be chaining yourself to your own hell. Give me the Institute, Ranma-chan. If it's authority and power you want, I'll grant it. Use the girls however you want. There is an abundance of replacements. That way, when you tire of the game, you can walk away."

"I am not looking for toys," I said with disgust. "I won't give you the Institute, Chiyo, because I have no intention of letting those girls get screwed any further. Maybe you don't see the value of their lives, but I do."

"Fool," Chiyo spat. "I thought you were smarter than this. Can't you see? If you do this, you will be Hecate's puppet. Cut her strings, Ranma-chan, or that woman will control your every action."

Hecate?

I slapped a hand on my forehead and burst out laughing. So this was the plan she had imagined. Artemis's senshi. Cruel, yet ingenious. A plot that traded two for two-hundred. From the beginning, she had manipulated everything so that I would be able to make this choice.

"Hecate's puppet," I repeated. "Maybe I am. But you are wrong about one thing, Chiyo. _I_ decided this. And nothing you say will sway me."

"I will kill you," Chiyo spat. "You know that, don't you Ranma-chan? You may have Gungnir, but if you take my Institute, I will take it back. And, when I do, I will kill you. But first I'll kill them. All the girls you think you are saving, I will carve them up. Then, right before I take your head, I will remind you of how many more would be alive if you had given the Institute to me."

"You can try," I replied. "But, Chiyo, the one who will die is you. Gondul said it herself, didn't she? Gungnir will carve out your heart."

For an instant, in those chocolate eyes, I saw fear.

"Comfort yourself with your delusions, dear," Chiyo retorted. "I will make your death a beautiful thing." She giggled quietly. "But you can rest easy for now, Ranma-chan. Until Artemis dies, we are allies. So I promise I won't kill you in your sleep. Probably."

Laughing, the girl pranced away then vanished into the warehouse. Her attendants cleaned up the mess, offering graceful curtsies as they followed their master one by one.

Kodachi was the last to go. She gazed upon me, her eyes filled with pity.

"Do not fear, insolent wretch. My mistress's wrath will never fall upon on you. Because I, lovely liquorice Kodachi, will slay you first. Tee-he-he-he."

Then she was gone.

With a sigh, I stared at the sky. Director. The burden was too big. Was Chiyo right? By doing this, I was chaining myself to my own hell. I closed my eyes. No. It didn't matter. A decade or two of my discomfort was a small price to pay for the lives of those girls.

Enough. I would have plenty of time to regret later. Opening my eyes, I found the suitcase Chiyo had left behind. With a lead weight in my stomach, I took it. Waste not, want not.

With a grunt, I headed toward the warehouse. "What am I going to say to Ucchan?" I muttered.

Suddenly, in mid-step, I froze.

Bowed at my feet was a fully armed kunoichi. Konatsu, Ukyou's incompetent assistant. Konatsu may have been a terrible cook, but he was a brilliant ninja. Konatsu's most prominent skill, however, was cross-dressing. The boy was disturbingly good at it.

As opposed to my Pop, who was disturbingly bad at it.

I nudged the bundle with my foot. "What do you want, Konatsu?"

"Ranma-dono. Please turn me into a magical girl," Konatsu said.

I stepped around the bundle and continued walking. The ninja scurried across the ground, his face pressed into the dirt. I hardly made it two steps before he was in front of me again.

"Ranma-dono. Please turn me into a magical girl," Konatsu asked again.

I stopped and set the trunk down. "Konatsu, you are a guy. Tenki transforms," I explained briskly. "I don't think having your organs rearranged will be good for your health."

Konatsu perked up. Expertly applied makeup converted his face into that of a pretty woman. "You mean, I would be a girl for real?"

My head flopped into my open hand. "I just made this harder on myself, didn't I?"

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia**

**Famicom** / **Duckhunt** –The original NES game system, released in Japan circa 1983. Duckhunt was a NES game usually packed with the original Super Mario Bros. If you've ever played Duckhunt, you might remember it as that game where you really wanted to kill that damn dog.

**The Gates of Time**

The Gates of Time are a type quantum machine. They function by punching nanoscale holes through the dimensional fabric. Through this mechanism the Gates gain access to alternate realities. Information is then relayed between these realities. In rarer cases, the holes are widened so that they allow travel by macroscopic objects, this usually requires a cooperative partner.

The Gates operate by means of the parallelism effect. Notably, this means that should a set of Gates be built in one dimension, there must exist a nigh infinite number of alternate dimensions in which identical gates were constructed. The Gates of Time 'link' to these alternative gates, forming a cooperative network. Indeed, without these alternate gates, the Gates of Time would not function.

The network of Gates primarily exist to share information. Each Gate is equipped with powerful scrying magic. The gate collects the scryed information from its own reality, then ports it onto the network of multiple realities. To ensure cooperation, the Gates have automated protocols that punish 'leechers'. Likewise, there are security filters, the most important of which is the 'one-year' delay rule all gates enact.

Despite general impressions, the Gates of Time were never intended for 'time travel'. Instead, they were designed to aggregate information. Parallel dimensions may be temporally displaced (e.g. experiencing what could be said to be the 'future' or the 'past'). By collecting information from these 'future' realities it becomes possible to cross compare alternative futures. A skillful operator, however, is required to identify what events caused the alternative futures to differ from one another. This is complicated by the fact that parallel realities often vary at a large number of points.

In other words, the Gates do not allow the user to see the future. They are instead a powerful device for _predicting _the future. The accuracy of any particular prediction varies. Outcomes that are highly certain are, in Setsuna's words, 'fated'.

The existing Gates of Time are actually the second version of the Gates. The original Gates of Time were built in the Silver Millennium by the Bureau of Economic Affairs. Rather than examine military objectives, the original Gates were commissioned as a resource for estimating the economic effects of large scale policy decisions. They were decommissioned three years after their initial construction then rebuilt in secret at the command of Serenity VI. The cause being the discovery of a large number of realities in which the Moon Kingdom suffered a sudden, catastrophic collapse.


	11. Tactics

**Author's Forward –** As I said last chapter, my queue is exhausted. The chapter 12 draft is 25% complete. As such, I am formally declaring that I will miss the February release date. For now, the next release is target April. My overall goal is to finish both chapter 12 and the epilogue then release them both at that time. However, knowing my habits, I can only guarantee one chapter.

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 11: Tactics**

-oOo-

"Attention, please," Setsuna called.

Rumbling voices vanished into isolated chatter. Syaoran and his wife fell silent. They turned their eyes up front. Chiyo remained lounged in the couch, paying no attention to Setsuna. Her horde of servants politely waited.

_Crash!_ My head jerked to the back of the room. A plywood board had tumbled to the ground. Fumio stood over Neptune, a jagged spear of ice in hand. The aqua haired girl had fallen on her butt. Uranus stomped forward, her face a boiling sea of rage.

I tensed, ready to stop the violence that was brewing.

Tuxedo stepped in. With cane and top hat, Chiba separated Fumio from the others. The dark haired boy allowed himself to be dragged to a faraway seat, his eyes glaring daggers of hate at every girl in the room.

Hikaru settled into the steel folding chair beside me. A lazy arm dangled over the back. "Crazy, isn't it?" he said, nodding at the disrupted fight.

I snorted. "I've seen worse."

"Attention, please," Setsuna called again, unperturbed.

Of the ragtag band, only Konatsu and Ukyou were missing. I searched the room and found the ninja. He was crouched upon a support beam, hidden in the shadows. Ukyou was more visible. She worked at a hurried pace from behind her portable grill. Two unfinished okonomiyaki sizzled on the heated metal.

"Give me a minute and I'll be done," Ukyou apologized.

"There is no need, Kounji-san," Setsuna said. "I trust that you will be mindful." Her ruby eyes raked the crowd. "Now that everyone is here, let us begin."

Quiet fell upon the warehouse. _Shiiing._ Steel rang when Ukyou flipped a patty.

"The reason for this meeting is simple. Gondul is dead. Chiyo has defected. Gungnir is ours," Setsuna proclaimed.

"Gungnir is mine," I growled. I tapped the spear against the ground in emphasis.

"As you say, Ranma-kun," Setsuna resumed, smoothly. "I did not wish to dispute your claim. My point is merely that the Institute is vulnerable."

The crowd murmured. Sakura glanced in my direction before whispering to Syaoran. Ukyou stopped in her work, suddenly attentive. Even Hikaru's stance changed. The sandy haired blond sat up straight. The shock was greater the older they were. Many of those here had fought against the Institute for years. The dream of victory had died long ago.

A tiny smile crossed Setsuna's lips. "Of course, Director Silvervine has no intention of giving us the first move. Late last night, she sent forty of her girls to destroy the wards maintaining her prison. The meager defenses left by Atlantis held for an hour. As of now, the wards have failed."

The room froze. "Shit!" Hikaru's curse reigned over the silence. "We're screwed. Oh man are we screwed."

I glanced from side to side as the room began to rumble. Hushed voices spoke sharp words. Some, like Hikaru, understood. Many did not.

"You know, some of us are new," I said, loudly. I swung my eyes across the group. "So, how about clearing things up?"

"Wisely noted, Ranma-kun," Setsuna said. "While Artemis's condition is general knowledge, I have yet to share the details of her imprisonment."

The green haired woman closed her eyes and searched for the start of the story. "As I have stated before, the Director of the Pretty Princess Institute, Artemis Serenity Silvervine, does not reside within her palace by choice. The Institute is her prison. She was placed there at the command of her niece, Serenity the VI, for the crime of treason. There she has remained for millennia."

"Millennia," Syaoran repeated. "Pardon my interruption, but, if the seal held so long, why would it fail now?"

"A reasonable question, and an important one," Setsuna commented. "The answer, sadly, is simple. Artemis's prison has always been vulnerable. That is not to say the defenses were not thorough. Indeed, they were extreme. Where one generator would suffice, the atlantians used three. They then hid those generators within sealed space. Alas, Atlantis made but one fatal assumption: their continued existence. Without the atlantian army, there is little to protect the generators themselves.

"To put things clearly, the wards have stood this long because Artemis has had no reason to tear them down. That fact has changed, thanks to Ranma-kun and Chiyo-chan," Setsuna's eyes floated to me. "Today, Artemis feels threatened. Without the support of her handmaiden, Gondul, she lacks an invincible spear. She fears that we will bleed her dry. As such, she seeks maneuverability."

"Leaving us shit out of luck," Hikaru added. "The Director isn't going to play queen of the castle anymore. She's going to come out and beat the shit out of us, personally."

"You are correct, Hikaru-kun," Setsuna said politely. "Though your concern is premature. In addition to the three primary generators, Atlantis built a fourth. Unfortunately, it is too weak to sustain Artemis's wards on its own. It will, however, keep her prison intact for another seventy-two hours."

"Paranoid, much?" I muttered under my breath.

Hikaru snorted. "And what gave you that impression? Generator one, two, three, or four?"

"Atlantis took Artemis's imprisonment very seriously," Setsuna interrupted. Her eyes flashed across us, intolerant of our interruption. "It is difficult to fault them, given the nature of her crime."

I raised a brow. "And what crime was that?"

"Attempted genocide," Setsuna replied. "I believe you are already familiar with the details, Ranma-kun."

Disgust colored my face. Planetary Tenki. A thousand years had changed nothing. Artemis's single mindedness exceeded obsession. It was chilling. Whatever humor I might have drawn from the thought was dwarfed by the certainty of her intent.

A woman who could hold a grudge for millennia would hold it forever.

"They should have killed her," I spat. The virulence of my tone surprised me.

"Yes. That would have been the preferred outcome," Setsuna agreed. "Alas, politics interfered. Now-"

"Politics?" I interjected. "Are you kidding me?"

Setsuna's ruby eyes narrowed on mine. Her face was granite. Her harsh words revealed buried emotion. "No, Ranma-kun, I am not kidding. Artemis was a war hero. The battles she won earned her the love of millions. Her blood gave her station. In terms of power, hers was considered second only to the Queen's. So great was Artemis's following that her proud confession evoked cheers at her murderous courage.

"It was all we could do to have her imprisoned. The Council of Peers was aligned behind Artemis. They were set to declare her innocent of all charges. Even the Queen's advisors hesitated, fearing the state would fracture. It was a testament to Serenity's mettle that she broke the deadlock. Against great protest, she evoked royal privilege and declared Artemis a traitor.

"And so Artemis was placed in prison. There, too, she was treated kindly. The Council forced us to offer amenities. Instead of a cell, Artemis received a palace on the planet of the people she sought to destroy," Setsuna said. The bitterness of her words lashed across the room. "The Terrans never forgave us that. Our fate was set in stone. Artemis sought to nip the war in its bud. Instead, she watered the flower of hatred."

A ghost of an expression crossed Setsuna's face. It vanished quickly into the mask I knew so well.

"I apologize. I seem to have slipped off subject," Setsuna said. "How Artemis came to be at the Institute in unimportant. Her freedom is our current concern. In that lies our opportunity. As I said, Artemis was afforded amenities. Amongst those was the continuation of her endowment."

"Endowment?" I asked.

"Contract," Hikaru clarified. He gave a wry smile. "You know, like gaining super powers by getting hitched to a magical girl."

"Is that a complaint I hear, Hikaru?" Chiyo cooed. Her lips spread into a saccharine smile. "Did I not say I would share? Ravish whichever girl you want. None of them will refuse you, husband dear."

Chiyo's attendants stirred nervously, blushes touching their cheeks. Hikaru's face turned to stone. The sandy blond pretended he had heard nothing.

"The situations are comparable," Setsuna stated, reclaiming the conversation. "However, the scale involved is quite different. The source of Serenity's power was the tenki of Luna. But Luna's magic was greater than a human could wield. As such, the royal family divided this power through a series of endowments. Those who received an endowment became Peers. Artemis, who was a war hero and of royal blood, was especially privileged.

"A privilege that, by violating her parole, Artemis has revoked."

"Well shit, some good new for once," Hikaru breathed. The salary man leaned back. "How strong are we talking, then?"

"Artemis's spiritual strength is two to three times that of Chiyo's," Setsuna explained. "Without Luna's boon, her power is a fifth of what it was prior."

"Leaving her half as strong as Chiyo." My hand tightened on Gungnir. I grinned, hardly able to contain my eagerness. "We can take her, easy."

"Forgive me. My words were poorly chosen," Setsuna interrupted. "The measurement I gave was with the endowment revoked."

All humor vanished. A grim specter settled on the room.

Hikaru leaned over to me. "And just a bit ago, I thought things were going well..."

"You and me both," I murmured. My expression twisted into a scowl. "That bitch broke my legs. I was looking forward to revenge. But I guess that won't happen now."

"Uh, I know I am a bit out of my depth here. But three Chiyo's is really bad, right?" Ukyou asked.

I glanced at the chef. Her grill had cooled. The last two okonomiyaki had been delivered into the hands of Syaoran and Sakura. Ukyou projected worry. After the meeting with Chiyo, I had explained to her the scale of power.

Ukyou had listened. She had not been happy to hear it, but she had accepted my reasoning. It probably helped that she had seen first hand the kind of carnage Chiyo could dish out.

"She will kill us all," Fumio said. The grouchy boy was slouched in his chair. "She won't even notice when she crushes us underfoot."

"Hey. Ease up on the despair there, kid," Hikaru interrupted. "With shit like this, you got to look on the bright side." Hikaru flashed a humored smile. "We will all die quick."

"You, maybe," I grumbled. "As for me? It will be anything but quick."

"I would not call it opportunity if there was no hope," Setsuna interrupted. "Yes, Artemis's power is great. But, without her endowment, she is beatable. What is more, there is no need to face her in a contest of arms. Trickery is a more suitable weapon. To that end, I propose we use the four emperors seal."

The four emperors seal. I knew the name, but my fogged up memories offered little more than that. Priest techniques had never been my forte. I had not studied them for years. When my lack of talent had become apparent, my father had stopped seeking instructors.

Still, bits of knowledge remained. The four emperors seal was a grand sealing technique. That meant, like the hiryu shoten ha, it fed off the spiritual strength of the enemy. Beyond that, I knew nothing. Most priestly seals were based on kinzu. Kinzu was a magic that exorcised supernatural influence. Against demons and spirits, kinzu was mighty. Against humans, it was worthless. Creatures born of nature could neither be pinned nor destroyed by kinzu.

But not all seals relied on kinzu alone.

Where my knowledge was weak, Syaoran's was not.

"The four emperors seal is a holding technique. It is most often used to pin a greater demon so that concentrated power can be deployed to destroy it," Syaoran commented. "Ordinarily, it has no effect on humans. But if Artemis's power is as great as you say, the seal should take hold, shifting her into distorted space.

"But that is where I lose you. Assuming we had the four priests needed, the four emperors seal requires continuous chanting with minimal interruption. Kinzu is the only attack I know of that can be used against an enemy so captured. But, no matter her power, Artemis is human. She will not be harmed by kinzu. She could, quite simply, wait us out."

"Valid concerns. To address the first, Neptune, Mamoru, Sakura and yourself can be taught to use the four emperors seal. Hikaru and I will suffice in a pinch. We will practice the technique over the next two days. As the seal itself is simple, I do not believe this will cause any trouble.

"As for Artemis being unreachable," Setsuna trailed off, her ruby eyes sly. "I think you will find that I am quite adept at reaching through spatial distortions."

"Sounds risky," I interjected. "Kinzu reacts to magic. You fiddle with the seal wrong and the whole thing goes up in smoke."

Left unsaid was what Artemis would do after the four emperors seal failed. It was folly to think we could catch her with the same trick twice.

"This method is not without risks," Setsuna admitted. "But I assure you, my skill is not lacking. So long as I am not forced port a person in or out too quickly, the seal will survive my disruption."

"Sound great," Hikaru said. "But, as much as I hate to rain on your parade, we got a big ass problem. How the hell are we are going to trap an angry, all-powerful goddess in the first place?"

Setsuna eyes flipped to the blond. "I am not so negligent as to ignore details, Hikaru-kun," she reprimanded. "Capturing Artemis is the most straightforward part of this plan. We will engage her in battle."

"And that's were I come in!" Chiyo said cheerfully. The girl's broad, malicious smile glowed. "You don't have to worry about a thing, Hikaru. I'll kill Artemis long before Hecate's stupid seal takes hold."

The crowd eyed Chiyo nervously. Once a traitor, always a traitor. Chiyo was using us. If we were lucky, her urge to kill Artemis would stay strong until we were done with her.

"Joy," Hikaru grumbled. Sharing a battlefield with his destined love brought Hikaru no delight. "Okay, say we put Artemis in the Thunderdome. Then what? The shit doesn't stop with her. The Institute has a couple hundred girls. All of them will be trying to murder us. How are we going to deal that? Especially with four of our fighters occupied. Never mind the giant bulleyes painted on their backs."

Setsuna nodded. "If we were to fight the entirety of the Institute there would be cause for concern. That, however, will not happen," Setsuna said. "As for the opponents we do encounter. They can be dealt with summarily through the use of Sakura's time stop magic.

"But perhaps you have an alternative plan, Hikaru-kun?"

Setsuna's ruby eyes stabbed Hikaru as though they were knives. The blond merely scratched his chin. I wondered if he knew he had drawn the woman's ire. I suspected he did not care.

"Me? Well, I was thinking this sounds like a shit load of work." Hikaru leaned back in his chair. "Seems less risky to seal her up again. You know, seize the generators. Turn on the arcane mojo. Walk away. Heh. Our great grand kiddies can sort it out. Preferably from space, with laser cannons."

I scowled. Hikaru's plan was not pretty, but it had its merits. There was one problem though. If I was to become director, Artemis had to die. Hikaru's solution left the girls at the Institute high and dry.

"And what about the rest of the Institute?" I asked. "Sure, we would have Artemis caged in, but her army would be free do whatever they pleased."

"Yeesh. Give a man a break, kid," Hikaru complained. "We can deal with that shit later. It's the Director that will send us straight to hell."

Fumio sat up. The boy's eyes glinted with dark emotion. "There is only one entrance. We camp outside and kill everyone that comes out."

My glare shifted to Fumio. He met it with impudent challenge. His right hand slid to the bottle of water he kept at his side. With a loathsome gaze, he invited me to stand against him. He wanted an excuse for his bigotry. To him I was a magical girl, no different from the others.

My hand curled on Gungnir. If that is what you want, brat, I'll put you in your place.

Before the tension boiled over, Chiba stepped in. The tuxedo wearing gentleman set his cane on Fumio's shoulder. The brat jerked, glaring back at the intruder. Chiba shook his head in warning. Sneering, Fumio slid back into a slouch, his attention far from me.

"I always wanted to be a serial killer. How did you know?" Hikaru inserted, sarcastically. The sandy blond gave the brat a pointed look. "Kid, in the future, try to save the 'kill them all and let god sort them out' plan for when everything else has failed."

I nodded my agreement.

"Beyond the question of morality, a siege is not practical," Setsuna added. "While Gondul's death makes such tactics possible, we lack the requisite manpower." Setsuna's eyes settled on Hikaru. "Not that it matters. As intriguing as these musings are, they are flawed at the root. Restoring the wards is impossible. Artemis ordered her girls to destroy the control systems the moment the generators were shutdown."

Hikaru released a heavy sigh. "And no control device means no generator. No generator means no ward. No ward means we are shit out of luck," Hikaru summarized. "Well, crap. So much for my kick the can solution."

"It was a crap plan to begin with," I grunted.

"Everyone's a critic," Hikaru complained. He flashed me a lazy grin. "Got a better one?"

"More manpower," I offered. I looked at Setsuna. "Any reason the rest of the senshi aren't here?"

All eyes shifted to Setsuna. I wasn't the only one who wanted to an answer to that question.

"My reasoning has not changed since we last met, Ranma-kun," Setsuna replied. "The inners must not be involved in this affair."

"And what is your reasoning?" I challenged. "Because I must have missed it the first time."

"What Hecate wants is to keep her darling little girls squeaky clean," Chiyo sneered. "It is amazing, isn't it, how many miracles she can conjure up for her own when she can't find any for us." Chiyo's voice turned sweet. "That's why you should stick with me, Ranma-chan. I'll take good care of you. I promise."

"You will care me straight into an early grave," I snorted. My eyes returned to Setsuna. "I'm not hearing an answer."

Setsuna's ruby eyes swept the crowd. Vague murmurs of discontent rose from the watchers. The green haired woman did not look pleased.

"My word is not sufficient?" Setsuna asked. Nobody looked away. "A mutiny, then. I suppose I can indulge your curiosity. As you might imagine, my reasons are numerous. The one most pertinent is Ginzuisho."

"You withhold support because of a magic rock?" Chiyo said scornfully. "That's a new low even for you, Hecate."

"Ginzuisho is more than a mere rock." Setsuna's voice cracked like a whip. "The Silver Crystal is an item of absolute power. A catalyst representing the strength of the Moon itself. Ginzuisho's magic is bound to service of the throne. Artemis is royalty. Her existence casts doubt on the Princess's legitimacy. Should Sailor Moon meet her Great Aunt in battle, the stone will be forced to choose. Should it side with Artemis, we are doomed."

I frowned. A sudden, horrible thought crossed my mind. "Wait. When you say, 'the strength of the Moon itself' you don't mean-"

"That is exactly what I mean," Setsuna confirmed. "As you suspect, Ranma-kun, Ginzuisho is an artifact of tenki. It draws from Luna's source. Its power, as you might imagine, exceeds mortal comprehension."

"Well," Hikaru interrupted, "I don't know about anyone else, but this mortal wants to know how deep the shit pile is. Hit us with the real world numbers. How many Chiyo's are we talking about?"

"During the Silver Millennium, Ginzuisho was studied in great detail. As such, I know for certain that the crystal's maximum output is limited to one-four-hundredth of the Moon's spiritual flow," Setsuna answered. "In physics terms, that equates to ten petawatts." The green haired woman drew a chilling smile. "Or, if you would prefer, fifty Hiroshimas. A second."

Silence followed. Hikaru leaned near my ear. "I don't know about you, but I am still not hearing real world numbers," he murmured.

"Damn straight."

"Of course, such power comes with grave consequence. To wield the full might of the Silver Crystal is to exchange your life," Setsuna continued. "But that does not mean the crystal is useless. Should Artemis gain Ginzuisho, she will restore her lost power twice over."

"Thirty Chiyo's. How bad can that be?" I said under my breath. "Yeesh. How did she get so freaking strong in the first place? Next time I meet Pop, I am lodging a complaint. Apparently, his training was crap."

Hikaru chuckled. With a wry smile, the sandy-haired blond faced the crowd. "I think you made your point, Hecate. We will shelve 'Operation Coin Flip' for now. No sense giving Artemis the rock of ridiculous power."

"As you say, Hikaru. But, if I recall, that leaves us without an alternative," Setsuna said. "Unless we are returning to – what did you call it? – Thunderdome?"

Hikaru grimaced. He shot a glance at me. I shrugged to indicate I didn't care either way. If anything, Hikaru looked unhappier.

"About that," Hikaru said carefully. "Are we sure it will work? No offense Syaoran, I know you know your shit, but we are talking mega-crazy-power here."

"The seal will work," Setsuna answered with authority. "Before the fall, Artemis faced multiple assassination attempts. The four emperors seal was used in two such occasions. In both cases, it held admirably."

I snorted. "At least it's tried and true."

"The seal works. The assassination part? Not so much," Hikaru grumbled. He fell back, his head leaning over his chair so that he stared at the rafters. "Oh hell. I've got nothing." Hikaru sat up again. He looked around. "So, who's the lucky fellow joining Artemis in the Thunderdome?"

"Me," I answered without hesitation. I gave Setsuna a measured look. "That is what I'm here for, isn't it?"

"You are, without question, the most suitable adversary," she answered. "However, Artemis need not face a single opponent. A series will suffice. A tandem assault also has merit. Alas, the time between entries or exits must be spaced carefully. Should we choose to pit Artemis against multiple foes, retreat will be impossible."

Setsuna's garnet gaze swept over the crowd.

"Are there any objections?"

Silence. The plan was decided.

-oOo-

_Ding_.

I opened the door. A small bell chimed, announcing my presence. A delicious smell rolled over me, Chinese cooking.

"Nihao, Ranma!"

A purple haired waitress danced from the kitchen. With joyful steps, she crossed the room then latched onto my arm. She pressed her breasts into my shoulder. They were soft and warm. My face heated. Nervously, I looked away. I knew where her lure led. Marriage.

_Shudder._

"We just opening," she purred in her choppy Japanese. "But if Ranma want date Shampoo, I make duck boy work instead."

Shampoo was a Joketsuzoku warrior, and the most frightening of my fiancées. Years ago, she had chased me from China to Japan, all in the name of an obscure, tribal law. _Ranma__,__ I kill_. The catch phrase still echoed in my ears. Just as quickly, hate had turned to love. But, no matter her cuteness, it could not overcome the trauma left by multiple assassination attempts.

I wiggled in her grip. Shampoo gave my arm no quarter. Adoringly, she nuzzled the limb. Sweat, blood, food, and flowers tangled themselves into an wild smell.

"I'm not here for a date," I said. I jerked my arm again, irritated. "I need to talk to Cologne."

Reluctantly, Shampoo stepped away. Her eyes were curious. "You wish to meet with honored Grandmother?" she asked. "Is husband short on money? You wear too cute dress to work with Shampoo, yes?"

Embarrassment grew.

This morning, I had opened the Chiyo's trunk. I had chosen the simplest of the dresses contained within. It was a cute, burgundy piece that ended at the knees. Fancy, black ribbons tied the front, and white lace trimmed the edges. With it I wore black dress shoes, each sporting modest heels. A butterfly clip channeled my hair so that it flowed over my shoulders.

In the Institute, I had worn sweeter. Often, I had chosen sexier. But never had I willingly picked clothes so feminine. I felt nervous under Shampoo's gaze. I wondered what she thought, seeing me like this. My tangled feelings only added to the confusion. But I had resolved to try this. Until I understood myself, I would continue to wear cute things. Eventually, my heart would sort itself out and I would know what it was I loved and hated.

"I am not here for work, either," I mumbled.

"Oh-ho-ho," a new voice laughed. "To think you would chose me over a young woman. What flattery."

A scrawny gnome pogoed her way from the back room. Cologne, an ancient matriarch of Joketsuzoku. Centuries of life had left the woman shriveled and shrunken. At her full height, Cologne reached my knee. Atop her gnarled staff, she commanded from a peak thrice that.

A fool would have thought her helpless. I was not tricked by the packaging. Cologne was a grandmaster of the art. She was a bastion of power and wisdom. If we were to fight, there was no telling which of us would come out on top. In terms of skill and strength, Cologne had me bested. The vigor of youth was my only edge.

Which was why I needed her.

I glanced around. A dozen tables sat empty. The Cat Cafe opened in a quarter of an hour. At first, business would be slow. Then, as lunch approached, the crowds would grow in size. Judging the environment free of eaves droppers, I took a seat. Cologne bounced over to the table's edge.

"What brings you here today, son-in-law?" Cologne asked. "Trapped as a woman? Cursed by a wandering god? Oh-ho-ho, I don't think my old heart can bear such excitement."

"If only," I muttered. "What do you know of the Pretty Princess Institute?"

Cologne's humor vanished, making her look even more ancient and withered. "Ah, yes. I feared this day would come," she said softly. "Son-in-law, you best forget this quarrel. The Institute is not to be trifled with." Cologne paused and eyed me. "Though I suspect my advice is given too late."

"You got that right," I snorted. The embers of anger stirred in my heart. "And I plan on doing whole lot more than trifling. I'm taking them down. I need your help."

My steely gaze met Cologne's. The old woman turned away, a ragged breath slipping from her lips.

"Ah, son-in-law, you certainly know how to make things difficult for an old woman," Cologne complained. Her gaze shifted to the purple haired girl at my side. "Granddaughter, close the shop. This discussion may run on for some time."

Shampoo slipped from my side. She locked the door and checked the paper sign before vanishing into the back. The whole while, her attention remained fixed on us.

Cologne reached out with her staff and dragged a stool close to the table. The old woman settled into her seat.

"I regret, son-in-law, that you came here for nothing," Cologne began. "The Pretty Princess Institute is a foe I dare not stand against. My bones are too weathered and my skin too wrinkled. It is for the young to fight foolish battles and for the old to warn against them."

This was where negotiations began. I did not expect Cologne to help out of hand. Indeed, her refusal was anticipated. Cologne had been too wise to anger the Musk, despite their insults and arrogance. That she had not stood against the Phoenix was even more telling. To go against the Institute? That was beyond belief.

But I was going to convince her anyway.

"You are not going to have a choice," I argued. "Institute won't leave you alone. They are hunting girls with high ki-potential. Shampoo is sure to be at the top of their list."

"Shampoo is no weak girl to be grabbed off the street," the purple haired girl interrupted.

Shampoo had slipped back into the room while Cologne and I were talking. She leaned against a support beam and skewered me with an indignant glare.

My gaze jerked to hers. "That didn't stop them from nabbing Akane and Ukyou," I retorted.

A storm crossed Shampoo's face. I readied myself for her wrath. Then, the clouds split. Shampoo's eyes lit up with delight and the girl broke into celebration.

"Kyaaa! Husband worry about Shampoo." Shampoo flounced to either side before bouncing over to me. "No need to fear. Shampoo is way stronger than weakling kitchen destroyer."

_Crack!_ Cologne's staff crashed against the table.

"Enough, child," the matriarch hissed. "Son-in-law is quite right in his fears. Foolish dreams of invincibility will lead to your downfall. I thought you had learned that lesson, Granddaughter, after your shameful defeat by an outsider."

Shampoo cringed and lowered her head. "Yes, honored Grandmother."

Cologne's eyes returned to me. "As for you, son-in-law, your concern is misplaced. I was contacted by a representative of the Institute two months ago. The young woman named Akina Ishii assured me that they would not interfere with Joketsuzoku affairs."

Two months ago? I scowled. Akina had planned my abduction in advance. It wasn't mere chance that they had left Shampoo alone. The Institute was well enough informed to know that stirring the hornet's nest called the Cat Cafe was unwise.

"And you trust them?"

"Trust?" Cologne chuckled. "Ah. So young. So foolish." Cologne shifted in her seat so that her large eyes focused more clearly on my own. "Let an old, wise woman teach you something, son-in-law. Amongst peoples and nations, there is no trust. There is only self interest. The Institute does not challenge me because angering Joketsuzoku risks much and gains little."

"It won't stay that way," I countered. "The Institute is building an army. They plan to conquer the world. They need girls. Lots of girls. Sooner or later, they will stab you in the back. Not today, I'll grant that. But next year? The year after?"

I shook my head and pressed my argument "The Institute is weak now. We can win. Blow it, and we will lose our only chance."

The old woman closed her ancient eyes and lowered her head.

"Son-in-law, you are young. I am old. These ears have heard those words before. Did you think you were the first? The Joketsuzoku have weathered many storms," she said. "The Western Powers that carved my land into fiefdoms. The Xinhai Revolution that brought an end to the Qing Dynasty. The great war, where your people slaughtered mine. Mao, who threw salt on our wounds.

"Through this, Joketsuzoku has persevered. We swallowed our pride. We bowed our heads. We bore the shame of doing nothing. And, because of that, we live. Our way continues. Our traditions are strong. We thrive.

"Perhaps you are right, son-in-law. Today may be the day we should raise arms. But tell me, what will the Joketsuzoku gain from this venture? Why should we risk our lives fighting a war for your people?"

My face scrunched in annoyance. "I'm not asking the Joketsuzoku to fight. I'm asking you to fight."

Cologne's staff flashed. _Crack_. The sharp blow pounded through my skull. The world rolled around me as though made of water. I nursed the welt on my head and glared at the old woman. She was not amused.

"I am a matriarch of Joketsuzoku, boy!" she thundered. "When I raise my hand, the Joketsuzoku raise theirs. When I go to war, the Joketsuzoku go to war. All that I do reflects upon my people. The vengeance of my foes fall upon my village. Tell me, son-in-law, what will you have me say to the grieving mother? What words of comfort will I speak to the orphaned child?"

I winced. Cologne's words struck harder than her staff. The burden of leadership. As a matriarch, Cologne's life did not belong to her. It belonged to her people. It was a fact that cut into my heart. Director. I, too, would be bound by those chains after I killed Artemis.

I did not look forward to it. Freedom was the core of my being. I was a wanderer. I had seen the truth with my own eyes. I had no desire to be pinned in place. But the idea of murdering all those innocent girls was a thousand times worse.

Cologne's fury cooled. The old woman shrank back into her seat. "It is not that I do not wish to help, son-in-law. I owe you a debt for saving my grand-daughter. If I were not so burdened, perhaps I would fight with you, if only to feel this old heart beat again. But, alas, I am not. I cannot aid you. I cannot risk that the Joketsuzoku would be punished in my stead. Not without a payment worthy of their sacrifice."

"If honored Grandmother will not help, Shampoo will."

"Granddaughter," Cologne warned.

Shampoo's eyes narrowed. "You no say I cannot go. I am warrior, not matriarch. My fight no reflect upon Joketsuzoku."

"Ah. Such is youth," Cologne sighed. "You speak truly, Granddaughter. To fight at her husband's side is a warrior's right. I cannot deny you that." The old woman closed her eyes for a long moment. "Son-in-law, I have but one request. Keep this foolish child alive."

I honored the matriarch with a bow. "I will do what I can."

"Oh-ho-ho, how unusually polite," Cologne teased. "I regret that I can do so little. If your request is humble, this old woman will grant it."

I raised my head. "I want your help."

"Son-in-law," Cologne said, dangerously.

"I heard you the first time, Cologne," I replied. My tone was serious and my eyes unwavering. "But I need your help. I am prepared to pay for it."

"This is not something you can buy with a promise, boy."

Cologne's eyes were narrow. Her aged frame was puny when compared to the dark presence looming over the table. No longer was I dealing with Cologne. Instead, I faced a matriarch of Joketsuzoku. She was not amused by the diplomacy of a child.

I did not break. I did not quiver. I did not back down. Cologne's wrath was but a gentle breeze when set against my purpose. I was not the boy she remembered. She could not understand how serious I was. How could she? I had gone through hell. I had changed. I was stronger.

"Say that after you see what I put on the table," I countered.

Cologne's threatening presence faded. Her ancient eyes glinted with intrigue. "Oh? And what is it that you think will sway a matriarch of Joketsuzoku, boy?"

"Eternal youth and beauty," I offered with a smirk.

A gnarled staff whistled through the air. I was faster. Magic propagated through my soul. Haigeki tore. Shuken mended. Tenki claimed me. My dress puffed with frills and pink. Around me formed hairs of angelic twine. Cologne's staff was captured by the webbing. It slowed to a halt, hopelessly entangled.

The matriarch froze. She stood there, suspended in mid swing. At first her eyes were wide with surprise. Quickly, they thinned as she sought the answer to the puzzle placed before her.

Shampoo broke the stillness. "Husband is magical girl?"

Cologne eased her staff from my web. "You never cease to surprise, son-in-law. And here I was about to berate you for teasing an old woman." The ancient matriarch settled back into her seat. "Eternal youth and beauty was it? If you are joking, I suggest you say so now. There are matters you do not make light of when dealing with a woman. Especially an old one."

"It's not a joke," I defended. I paused and thought better of it. "Not entirely anyway," I admitted, embarrassed. "I can't say it will work for you. Not without a lot of help."

I grimaced and looked away. In retrospect, dangling 'youth and beauty' in front of Cologne was cruel. Certainly, tenki could provide that. But, as old and wrinkly as Cologne was, tenki was probably beyond her reach. Without extreme assistance, anyway. The kind of assistance that would turn Cologne into my slave.

I suspected she would not find those terms acceptable.

The old woman snuck her staff in close and rapped me on the knuckles as punishment.

"I see you have stolen the Institute's magic," Cologne observed. "I take it that is your offer? If so, tell me of its nature. Should it be great enough, I will consider your request."

"Not magic. Tenki," I answered. "Tenki-"

_Bang!_ The rap of Cologne's staff killed all conversation. The tiny matriarch stood upon her stool. Impossibly, she loomed over me. "Son-in-law, do you mean to tell me that you have obtained the Axis of Heaven?"

The Axis of Heaven? I went blank for a second then recognized the name as an alternative reading. "You've heard of it?"

"Heard of it?" Cologne's gnarled staff shook in her hand. Slowly, she lowered herself back to her seat. "What a fool I have been," she muttered. "To think it lay before my eyes all this time."

I frowned. "So you do know of it."

"Yes." Cologne answered. "The Axis of Heaven was once the greatest of all techniques commanded by the Joketsuzoku. But it was lost. Lost for three millennia."

"You lost tenki?" I said, disbelieving. "How did you manage that? Sure, it is a bit tricky. Dangerous, too. But it isn't that hard to pass on." I glanced at the purple haired girl. "Shampoo could learn it with help."

"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, son-in-law," Cologne explained. "Not all who crave power are strong. For those who are weak, the ground is fragile. They stand upon a precipice and fear they will fall. So, instead of bettering themselves, they worsen others. With their hands, they pluck out the eyes of all who would challenge them, leaving everyone blind.

"Greed was our undoing. The secret of tenki was jealously guarded. Then it was lost. So too vanish many of our techniques. Clans take their teachings the grave. Elders hide their art, fearing the strength of outsiders. Ha! How vain. How foolish. What purpose does it serve to have an art but no heir to inherit? How can we call ourselves great when our skills fade into legend and myth?"

Cologne's words were weary, containing the decades of useless argument.

It was a feeling that touched my heart. Cologne was right. I knew it. I had seen the eagerness with which aged instructors had taught me. The burning desire they had felt at the prospect of keeping their art alive. Was that why they had been so willing to sell their daughters? Had they lived in fear that they would be the last?

Tenki, for all its greatness, was no different. No, it was worse. Tenki was a magic that could only be learned by the young, talented, and beautiful. Shampoo and Ukyou had the capacity. But those girls stood at the peak of their generation. Still they needed my aid.

Those like me? Those who could unravel the art and reproduce it without assistance? We were the rarest of kin. A normal clan might see generations pass without an heir. If the teachers refused to teach, if the students refused to learn, then the numbers would be slim indeed. Throw in greed, murder, and politics, and it became all to easy for tenki to vanish into the mists of time.

It was an unsettling feeling. I found myself wondering, who would carry on my skills? I had poured my heart and soul into learning the art. If the art died with me, it would be as though my work had turned to dust.

"How many can be taught the Axis of Heaven?" Cologne asked.

"Tenki requires high spiritual power," I answered. "Shampoo has enough, but half that is probably the limit. They will need crude ki manipulation too. Nothing fancy, but if a girl can't form an aura, I would be wasting my time." I paused and gave a nervous smile. "And... well.. they have to be good looking. I know it sounds stupid, but tenki is based on an aura of beauty," I finished lamely.

"Oh? Are you saying that I am not beautiful, son-in-law?" The old woman's eyes twinkled. "Very well. I accept your offer. In return for my aid, you will teach the Axis of Heaven to any girl of Joketsuzoku who is able."

A broad smile spread across my lips. "You've got a deal."

-oOo-

"That's a lot of uniforms," I observed.

We were an odd collection of warriors. From my perch atop a high building, I observed the battlefield. Cologne stood at my right, shielding her eyes from the sun as she gazed upon the meandering ants. Behind her stood Shampoo and Mousse. To my left were Ukyou and Konatsu.

Ukyou stepped close, gripped the metal frame of a giant sign, and leaned over the side. The girl grimaced when she saw what I had spotted.

"We aren't going to get arrested, are we?" Ukyou asked.

"Chef girl worry about silly cops? She is fake warrior," Shampoo said snidely.

Ukyou's nervousness vanished into anger. The magical chef glared at the purple haired amazon. "I want to see you keep your restaurant with a prison record, bitch."

"Hmph," Shampoo huffed. "If stupid official take what is Shampoo's, Shampoo will shampoo him until he forget place."

"Children," Cologne interrupted.

The matriarch's rebuke shredded the argument. The girl's war turned into one of glares and gestures. Cologne chuckled at the antics.

"What do you think, son-in-law?" Cologne asked.

"They were tipped off," I answered. "And not by the Institute, either."

My gaze swept the crowd. Scores of violet silhouettes filled the lens of my glasses. Magical girls swarmed the streets of Tokyo. Further away, a discrete army of cops maneuvered under civilian cover. Quietly, innocents were shuffled from the battlefield. Under the guise of roadwork, the traffic was strangled until the streets were empty.

But behind the roadblock was a surreptitious police presence. Cars were parallel parked so that the street could suddenly become a wall of flashing lights. I had little doubt that the moment combat commenced, the unofficial barricade would become a very official one.

I wasn't going to complain. No one sane wanted a mess on the scale of Chiyo's Starlight Starfall. And, in terms of damage, this fight was going to be much, much worse.

"They won't get involved," I answered.

Cologne gaze narrowed on mine. She looked away. "It is your battlefield, son-in-law," she answered.

From the old woman's calculating eyes, I could see that she was making plans in case I was wrong. I wasn't about to stop her. I was thinking the exact same thing.

"Uh... Ranchan, how many girls are we talking about? Because I'm counting nine. And that is just the girls standing outside."

Ukyou's fight with Shampoo had ended with a temporary truce. The chef was once again peering over the roof. One by one, she ticked off the girls with her eyes to complete her count.

"Forty-three," Cologne answered.

"Fifty-eight," I corrected. "They have three squads of five on reserve."

"Oh?" Cologne noised. The old woman raised her head and squinted as she plucked out the troops scattered all around. "Those are good eyes you have there, son-in-law. A pincer attack?"

"I'm cheating," I said, tapping my glasses. "And I doubt the Institute is that imaginative. I am betting those girls are stationed so far out so they can cut off retreat."

This was a meeting between senshi. I had arranged it with the help of Setsuna. The official reason for this discussion was to debate future relations. In truth, this was my declaration of directorship. It was imperative that my intent was established before Artemis fell. If not, the Institute might fracture before I gained the begrudging support of my fellow senshi.

I could not allow that. The purpose of my sacrifice was to save lives, not destroy them.

But the official, unofficial reason for this meeting only disguised the greater intent. This was a trap. For me and for them.

The Institute did not disappoint.

Fifty-eight girls, a fourth of the Institute by population and half it in terms of combat potential. The Pretty Princess Institute was saying loud and clear that it was not playing around. My 'sisters' were intending to drag me back by force. If they succeeded, no holds would be barred when it came to correcting my thinking.

But the Institute was not the only party to field an army.

My force was numerically inferior. I had six to their sixty. But where they had quantity, I had quality. Ukyou and Konatsu were skilled martial artists. Boosted by tenki, they were worth any three girls from the Institute. Ruthless drills on tactics and technique had only solidified that edge.

Shampoo and Mousse were just as skilled as their counterparts. Unfortunately, a mere two days had not been enough to bridge of month of preparation. Shampoo was not transformed. Ordinarily, the lack of magic would have made the Joketsuzoku warriors worthless. Syaoran had changed that. Mousse and Shampoo were armed with a dozen paper seals. The charms were laden with kinzu. When placed upon a weapon, the seals would give the warriors the the ability to pierce the auric defense of magical girls.

"Fifty-eight?" Ukyou said in shock. "Can we handled that many?"

"Cooking girl silly. Trash is trash. Shampoo will crush all enemies," Shampoo said haughtily.

Ukyou's eyes flashed with annoyance. "Spare us the bullshit, sugar. If even half those girls have ranged attacks, they will saturate our position until we go down. You know it."

Shampoo gave an arrogant huff, raised her nose, and turned her back on Ukyou. From my position, the purple haired girl's expression was not so hidden. In it, I saw an uneasy fear.

"Stupid girly-girly Japanese girls can no hit Shampoo if she is already in face," Shampoo countered snootily.

"Please tell me how you plan to be 'in the face' of sixty girls at once," Ukyou retorted. No answer followed. Ukyou snorted. "That's what I thought."

"Do not fear, my darling Shampoo," Mousse interrupted. The white robed boy kneeled. With great authority, he addressed an air conditioning unit. "I will gladly throw myself into the fire to protect you from harm."

With a cruel kick, Shampoo knocked Mousse to the ground. The boy's thick glasses tumbled onto the hard surface. He scrambled to grab them while Shampoo haughtily pressed his face against the concrete.

"Stupid Mousse, Shampoo is over here," she said. "And you no allowed to throw yourself into fire. Shampoo be very angry if duck boy get hurt."

Mousse's expression rose as though he had been thanked by an angel. "Shampoo."

Heedless of his feelings, Shampoo continued. "Duck boy ruin husband's plan if injured. Use up all seals first, then you be Shampoo's meat shield."

"Ah, to be young again," Cologne murmured. "Well, son-in-law? Do you care to share with us your wisdom?"

My expression twisted. "Hard to say. Most of those girls couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. On the other hand, magic can be pretty varied. The Institute will have a few of tricks up its sleeve," I said. I frowned, and tried to put my words into numbers. "We will have to break them apart. We can probably handle twenty at a time. Engaging a larger force would be dangerous."

"Oh-ho-ho," Cologne laughed. "You offer quite the challenge, son-in-law. Mobile warfare it is. But, son-in-law, don't forget that we have a time limit. Those seals burn quickly. When they go, we will lose two of our fighters."

"I know," I replied. "I'm hoping we will have it wrapped up before that happens."

"Hope is not wise on a battlefield," Cologne warned. "But war and wisdom rarely go hand and hand. Do take care, son-in-law. Without you, this endeavor will surely fail."

"I will be fine," I said, twirling Gungnir in emphasis. "Wish me luck."

"Hold it right there, Ranchan," Ukyou barked, momentarily forgetting her argument with Shampoo. "You are not walking in there on your own."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Ucchan, I already told you, this is between me and them. I need you here. Down there, you will be one more thing I have to worry about."

"And when I am up here, I will be the one worrying," Ukyou argued. "I am not that fragile, Ranchan. You need someone to guard your back."

The purple haired girl stepped forward. "Shampoo is going too."

"Both of you are staying here," I growled. "It is too dangerous."

"All the more reason for back up, Sugar," Ukyou replied.

"If cooking girl is going, Shampoo is going," Shampoo added. "Shampoo no let thief steal husband while back is turned."

I shot a desperate look at Cologne. The old matriarch sighed and pogoed forward. Faster than I could blink, she rapped both girls on the head. The move was impressive enough, on account of the fact the crone standing on her staff while doing it. Effortlessly piercing Ukyou's shuken at the same time? Mind boggling.

"Enough," she chided. "This is son-in-law's battlefield. If you can't obey orders, then it would be best you leave."

Cologne's steely eyes speared the girls. Neither could raise their gaze to meet hers. Unhappily, they backed down.

The matriarch turned to me. "Go, son-in-law. I will keep things in order here."

"Thanks," I said. With that, I jumped off the roof.

It was a fast, five story plunge to the ground. Air whistled, fluttering the edges of my dress. I slowed at the last few meters, the laws of gravity and air resistance rewritten through the force of my shuken. Stiletto heels touched softly on the alley's floor, releasing nary a whisper of sound.

Briskly, I navigated labyrinthine alleys of tall, featureless brick. I stepped out into the open. The meeting place was a broad, two floored bar. The squat restaurant was dwarfed by the seven story tower a building away. Two lanes of one way road drew a line between me and it. The distance was made wider by the bands of parallel parked cars running on either side of the street.

Urban warfare was far from my first choice. After the fight with Garmr and Gondul, I had serious qualms with the dangers involved for outsiders. Setsuna had changed my mind. The mere mention of open field combat had been enough. As much as I disliked fighting it out in Tokyo, engaging the Institute on a battlefield where they could concentrate their strength was suicide.

City streets and tall buildings favored a small, mobile force. And so we would fight here, in a rundown part of the inner city.

Girls in fancy dress roamed the street. A curtain defense to shield against direct attack. They stiffened when they caught sight of me. Two separated from the group and approached. I recognized their faces. Yellow and Blue. This time they had the wisdom to be transformed.

"Saotome-sama" "Hime-sama" The girls greeted with graceful curtsies. If they were bitter, they hid it well.

Yellow gestured toward the bar's glass doors. "If you would follow me, Saotome-sama."

I let myself be led into the building. The bar had one, giant room. The center space was reserved for dance floor. To my left was a stage. A balcony ran overhead, ringing the room so that the drinkers could enjoy the show as it played out below.

The bar was filled to the brim by magical girls.

Brilliant colors decorated the wooden room. A field of flowers. The colorful crowd rose to greet me. In a descending wave, the Institute curtsied. _Samas_ and _himes_ roared like applause.

My eyes drifted to the largest object in the room. A huge bulk was set on the dance floor, hidden beneath canvas. Normally it would have dominated the room, but instead it was wedged slightly to the side so that a single table could claim the center.

There, all of Artemis's remaining senshi were gathered.

I turned from the bulk and swept the crowd with my gaze. Off to the side, was Lilac. She watched me with squinted eyes, her flower rod tapping her open palm. Carrotcake was half hidden by a circle of chattering girls. Her quiet giggles were muted to avoid attention. Emiko stood near the back. Her head hung low, projecting an aura of depression. Carefully, she lifted her eyes. She shifted them quickly when she met my own.

Then there was Akane. My fiancée stood behind the gathered senshi, an honor guard for the inner sanctum. She held her head high with pride. A tiny sneer was directed at me. I could almost hear her saying: _How could you abandon this?_ My gut roiled at the sight.

"Saotome. What a pleasant surprise," Akina drawled. The woman tossed her dark, violet hair. "I thought for sure you would burn the building down around us. Did you learn to mime refinement?"

I quirked a smile and pulled back a chair. I slammed Gungnir on the table, delighting in the way the woman jumped at the deadly sight.

"Maybe I wanted to say hello before lighting my senpais on fire," I replied.

Akina let out a throaty laugh. Her ruby lips curved with mirth. "That is the Saotome I remember."

"The walls are wooden sheet laid upon a reinforced, cement structure. The supply of fuel is more limited then appearances imply. Several of our girls possess powers suitable for suppressing fire. Without an accelerant, or a flame of great heat, any attempt to burn this building would meet with failure," Michiko commented.

Akina sighed. "It's the spirit of it, Michiko."

Michiko blinked and cocked her head to the side. "It would be easier to cut the supports and drop the roof on us."

Akina's eye twitched in response.

"To be fair, that is what I am planning," I said with an innocent smile. I crossed my legs. "Drinks?"

"Of course. Tea please, Naomi-chan." Kamiko called. Her hazel eyes turned to me. "I apologize, kohai. It was our belief that this meeting would not be serious."

"If it occurred at all," Akina murmured.

"Surprise then," I responded. "And have Emiko bring the tea. That way I can trust it won't have anything special in it."

From her place in the back, Emiko stirred nervously. Kamiko turned toward the girl in green and nodded her agreement. With that matter settled, attention returned to me.

"I presume, Saotome-chan, that you did not come here to turn yourself in?" Kamiko asked.

"Saotome surrender? Ha!" Akina laughed. "As much as I have tried to teach her otherwise, our cute little kohai speaks only the language of fists and broken bones." Akina's ruby lips spread in a smile. "If we want to take her, we will have to do it by force."

Kamiko sighed, "I am aware of Saotome-chan's proclivities, Akina. I was merely hoping that she had changed her mind."

I snorted. "Your hope is wasted. I'm not going back to the Institute. Artemis will destroy me. Your words, remember?"

"I assumed as much," Kamiko answered. "Then please tell us why you have called us here."

My answer was interrupted by the tea's arrival. Emiko set four mugs of hot water in front of us. Each had a small bag of leaves inside. I snagged my cup and met the green eyed girl's gaze. Emiko returned a nervous smile.

I gently set my hand on hers. "You okay?"

"I-I am fine, Saotome-sama," Emiko whispered back.

"If you are truly concerned for Emiko, Saotome-chan, I recommend that you do not insert yourself further into her affairs," Kamiko answered briskly. "I do not wish to punish her more than necessary. Now, if you would please share with us the reason for this meeting."

I patted Emiko's hand another time then dismissed her in favor of Kamiko.

"I want you to back me as director."

"Saotome, you are a true delight," Akina said. Her lips were twisted with amusement. "Who else would have the audacity to invite us for tea and proclaim her candidacy for a position that is not vacant?" Daintily, she sipped from her cup. "A brute to the bone."

I raised a brow. "The position will be vacant when Artemis is dead," I observed.

"Absolutely not," Kamiko snapped. The woman's hazel eyes were sharp. "You are unsuitable for the role, Saotome-chan. You lack experience and the requisite personality. It was difficult enough to prepare you for the role of senshi. You are not capable of being director. And that is beyond the irregularity of adopting Artemis's killer as her successor."

"Not irregular," Michiko corrected. "Many historical appointments were established after the murder of the previous leader."

"Yes, trust Saotome to claim the conqueror's right," Akina added.

"I prefer to believe that we live in a more civilized era," Kamiko countered, tiredly. "But my reasoning stands. Saotome-chan is unsuitable."

"Then fix me," I responded.

Kamiko was taken aback. "Kohai, I hardly thing you would agree-"

"To have you dicker around with my head?" I snorted. "You didn't have any problem doing it before. And I am not giving you permission to change whatever you want, if that's what you're asking. But if you have to tweak a few things so I can handle being director? Fine."

"As always, Saotome does not know how to hold back," Akina commented. Her violet eyes twinkled. "If she is willing to go that far, I say we let her."

Kamiko frowned while dribbling her fingers on the table. She glanced at Michiko.

"The rules governing the appointment of the position director allow her claim. All senshi are equal. She is a senshi. Without a legitimate reason to refuse, we must consider candidate Saotome's bid as valid," Michiko elucidated.

"The Director of the Pretty Princess Institute is decided by more than an internal vote," Kamiko pointed out. "It is a political position. Saotome would have to be accepted by the Prime Minister."

"Negative," Michiko said. "The Institute has been programed for extreme loyalty. A political appointee would not be accepted. Only a senshi is fit leader. This dynamic is understood by the standing government. Without due cause, they would have no choice but to support our candidate.

"Further, I find the highlighted concerns weak. Experience can be gained. Personality is subject to change. Excluding these factors, your reasoning remains flawed. Upon becoming director, candidate Saotome, would have our absolute support. Any task that exceeds her ability can be delegated."

"So you have no problem with her appointment?" Kamiko mused.

"Affirmative," Michiko said with a sharp nod. "Should candidate Saotome's bid go unchallenged, her claim wins by default."

"Chiyo is interested," I inserted.

Akina snorted. "No one in this room regards Chiyo as a senshi," she said. Her ruby lips curved into a teasing smile. "So, is there a competing bid?"

"On the matter of Chiyo, I agree with Akina," Kamiko said. "The Institute would fracture before it accepted that girl as director. On the issue of Saotome-chan?" Kamiko sighed. "It seems I am outvoted. However, before I can accept Saotome-chan's candidacy, I have a final question. Please tell me, Saotome-chan, what future do you envision for the Institute?"

I sipped my tea and thought. For me, the point of being the director was to save the Institute. I wanted the kidnapped girls to go home. I wanted the wounds to be healed and the wrongs to righted. When that was done, the Institute had no meaning to me. Let it be destroyed.

For the senshi, that was different.

I could see it in their demeanor. Akina leaned forward with sudden interest. Michiko's steel blue eyes were fixed on mine. Kamiko judged. Her gaze was that of a hawk. If I stumbled, her claws would snatch me like prey.

Hers was the voice I needed. The others offered vague support – Akina's playful and Michiko's weak. If Kamiko launched a counter bid, I would lose. Because she was the most qualified successor.

I closed my eyes. I sought an answer that would satisfy her. I had nothing but brutal honesty.

"I want to save everyone," I said truthfully. "The kidnappings have to stop."

My eyes flitted over the crowd, pausing on Emiko. Victims, I reminded myself. All of these girls were victims. Even those like Akane, who were convinced that this was what they wanted, were victims.

And now, all those victims were watching me as closely as the senshi themselves.

"Emiko, Rin, Naomi, Akane, everyone should be free to visit their families," I added. "As for the Institute, I don't know. Part of me wants to get rid of it. But, I think what I would like more than that is to turn it into something good. A real magical girl school."

"A fair purpose," Kamiko said thoughtfully. "One Akina will support. You may not know this, but Akina volunteered to teach at the Institute in hopes of helping younger girls."

I glanced at Akina. Her playful smile turned wistful.

"However," Kamiko added, sharply. "You seem to have forgotten the Institute's mandate. The Pretty Princess Institute is a government office. We are obligated, by law, to identify, hold, and reform girls who have become a danger to society. How will your Institute carry out these duties, Saotome-chan?"

She was right. I had forgotten. The Institute was a magical girl reform school. That was its official purpose. Even Artemis pretended to follow the Institute's mandate. As director, I would be equally compelled.

"I guess we do what we have too," I said, grimacing. My gaze flickered into a glare. "But I am doing away with the head games. When reforming girls, we stick to traditional methods."

"I see," Kamiko said, nodding. Her fingers dribbled on the table. "And what will you do when traditional methods prove inadequate?"

"Inadequate?" Akina questioned. "How about inefficient? As a teacher at the Institute, I have learned to appreciate the power of a mental nudge. It has saved a lot of pain and heartache. But Saotome is rather barbaric. Perhaps she would like to bring back the iron maiden?"

"I'm talking detentions, not torture," I said, annoyed.

"Do you know what a reform school is?" Akina asked, scathingly. "Perhaps the Institute has confused you. Most of our girls are rather sweet. A gentle reprimand is usually enough. But we have hard cases, Saotome. We have _murders_. Explain to me how a detention will fix that."

I scowled. Akina was right, detentions would not be sufficient. The alternatives were hardly better. Imprisonment. Isolation. Punishment. My rainbowed vision of the Institute died. If I were to use such tactics, the Pretty Princess Institute would become a prison.

I did not want to be director of that.

There was a solution. Adjustment. With adjustment, I could reach into a girl's mind and fix problem directly. But that too was horrifying. The trauma and helplessness of my adjustment remained with me. When I looked into the mirror, I shuddered. Always I wondered, who am I and who should I be? Those questions were made all the more haunting by the fear that my answers had been manufactured by someone else.

Then again, did a murder deserve such mercy? Should monsters like Chiyo be left to roam the world? Was it better to fix hateful brats like Fumio than kill them? Adjustment had a corrupting allure. If I started to use it, it would become all too tempting to correct minor problems as well as major.

My scowl grew as I thought. I had no good answers.

"I'll think about it," I said finally. "But, no matter what, the tiaras are gone. _Agony_ is just plain wrong. The Institute should be helping girls, not hurting them."

"This is a difficult moral question, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said. "Do not feel as though you have to answer it now. We can discuss this in greater depth at a later date. Instead, I would like to hear what your intent is with regards to Director Silvervine's legacy."

"Her legacy can burn," I spat. "The Institute is not an army. If the JSDF wants magical girls, they can damn well hire them themselves."

Kamiko lifted her cup. She took several a long drinks as her fingers played upon the table. Eventually, she sighed.

"I see no reason to challenge your candidacy. However, I will hold you to your agreement. You will abide by my instruction. And do not think this is limited to matters of education and leadership, Saotome-chan. As director, you will be in the public eye. Exemplary comportment will be required. Especially with the negative attention your youth will draw. Is this understood?"

I drew a shaky breath. I had said the words. I had meant them. Now they became real. The weight of my fate pressed upon me. Politics was unforgiving. Those who deviated were quashed. To survive the watchful gaze of the public, I would have to be a perfect princess.

"I was the one who offered, wasn't I?"

"I merely wished to be certain that we understood each other, Saotome-chan" Kamiko said. Her eyes hardened. "On that note, will you submit to more radical methods should traditional instruction prove insufficient?"

My hands curled into fists. I forced them open. "If I agree that it will make me a better, director," I said. My eyes became steel, "But I won't be another Artemis. I draw the line at my morals and my art. Got it?"

Kamiko nodded. She closed her eyes for a long moment. "Thank you for your honesty, Saotome-chan. In light of your answers, I have reached a decision. Under the terms and conditions stated, I do formally pledge my support for candidate Saotome."

"I concur," Michiko added.

"It is unanimous then," Akina said with a broad smile. "Which is a relief, because I am fairly sure Saotome intended to kill us if we disagreed."

Kamiko went still. The prospect of murder had yet to cross her mind.

"I was hoping you would change your minds before I got to that part," I admitted. With a thunk, I put my cup on the table. "Well, this went smoother than I thought. I guess the meeting is over then."

"A moment please, Saotome-chan," Kamiko interrupted. "We still have a matter to discuss."

My hand settled on Gungnir. "Really? Because I have nothing to talk about."

"That would be your surrender, Saotome," Akina drawled. Her lips curved into an amused smile. "And since you will refuse, we prepared a cage for you."

I smirked, my hand tightening on Gungnir's shaft. "Heh. Can't say I'm surprised."

All at once, I transcended the wind. In a blur, I climbed the table. Gungnir was thrust. The spear's alien magic warped reality. The blade's aim was such that it would slice through the meat of Akina leaving her vital organs untouched.

_Chink!_

Gungnir came to a sudden halt. The steel point pierced halfway through a spectral wall. My smile vanished. A barrier. I jumped back. My body slammed into a second wall a few paces behind.

I glanced at Michiko. Sparks shot at the edge of my vision. My eyes jerked up. Embedded in the ceiling were six devices. Colors rippled over their surface, silver fading in and out of camouflage.

I swung. Gungnir's edge slashed across the hidden walls of my prison. Crackling light flared upon the spear's path, marking the surface of my cell. Two meters in radius. I scowled, channeling my irritation into haigeki. Pink light flowed into Gungnir's length. If the blade's law was not enough, I would add my own. With it, I would shred Michiko's shield as though it were paper.

A seal flared below me. Magic was sucked from the air. My illusion was crushed by the fist of reality. Tenki faded into motes of light, transforming my pink dress into casual clothes.

Kinzu. Shit.

My eyes danced across the room. I quickly plucked the chanting shrine maiden and onmyouji from the crowd. It was they who were sealing my magic. Thanks to Michiko's barrier, I could do nothing about it. In frustration, I lashed out again. Gungnir sliced the spectral barrier, peeling away layers of magic as though they were skin.

"The containment cell is dual layered," Michiko explained. The scientist magical woman stood, gesturing toward the components as she lectured. "The internal seal disperses arcane energies. The external barrier suppresses physical motion. Simulations show that the combined system is highly resistant to assault.

"Synchronizing the components was difficult. Suppressive magic naturally shorts the techno-arcane barrier system. Allowing a gap between the internal and external layers was inadvisable. To account for the chaotic shape of the suppressive field, the external barrier was placed in constant flux. The shielding devices recalculate the distribution of power a thousand times a second. Even small system disruptions result in material losses of efficiency."

Drawing my body back, I stabbed. With all my mass behind it, Gungnir punched through the invisible wall. The cut was wasted. The gap sealed itself as soon as the weapon was withdrawn.

"It is meaningless, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said. As she spoke, she reached into a bag at her feet. She withdrew a glittering tiara. "Michiko tested her system thoroughly to ensure it would contain you. I am sorry, but your efforts end here."

A floating, silver disk claimed the tiara. It approached my prison, extended a telescoping arm, then dropped the headdress at my feet.

"Please wear your restraining device, Saotome-chan."

Slowly, I plucked the tiara from the ground. Bitter emotion reigned as I ran my thumb over the glass gems ornamenting the accessory. _Agony_. I shuddered at the memory of it.

"You think I'm going to wear this?" I asked, unable to hide my distaste. "You should know by now, I am never going back."

"You have no choice, Saotome-chan," Kamiko countered. "If you refuse, we will fill your cell with gas. Please do not make this difficult."

"Heh," I laughed. I quirked a smile. "Sounds like you thought of everything. I'll admit. With a setup like this, there isn't a whole lot I can do." My smile grew into a smirk. "It's kind of funny, getting captured like this. Ironic even. Because this is exactly what we had planned for Artemis."

"What arrogance," Akina said. "I did not think you were one to share your plans with the enemy."

"Oh? And why shouldn't I?" I asked. "Since it is happening right now."

I delighted in the silence permeating the room. Akina stood. Her gaze was penetrating.

"You are bait."

Kamiko turned to Akina. "Most of our forces are here," she said worriedly. "Should we reinforce the Institute?"

"No. We deal with Saotome first," she replied. "The Director can handle herself." Akina faced the other senshi. "Michiko, flood Saotome's cell and contact the fringe groups. Tell them to join us. We move the moment Saotome is secure."

"Is it necessary to move so quickly?" Kamiko asked. "I would prefer to give Saotome-chan more time before resorting to force."

"Our kohai will never surrender," Akina snapped. The woman's violet eyes burned. "She is bait. Every second we wait, the further out of control the situation gets. We end this now." Akina's head shot to the side. "Michiko?"

Michiko frowned while pressing a bud into her ear. "I cannot contact Tulip or Iris," she stated.

Akina's head jerked to me. My smirk grew wider.

"Flood her cell!"

"I hardly think that Saotome-chan's friends-"

"Kamiko, look at her," Akina interrupted, thrusting a finger in my direction. "Does that look like a woman defeated? No, Saotome struts as though she's won."

Air hissed from above. Kamiko glanced around, her unsettled expression growing. A thin mist sprinkled down. Girls began to buzz. The volume of the room was rising as the Institute woke to the fact that things were not going as planned.

I laughed.

"So you are using the gas after all," I commented. "I suppose it is time for me to leave then."

Kamiko's hazel eyes narrowed on me. "Spare us the bluff, Saotome-chan. That barrier is more than strong enough to hold you."

My smirk only grew. "Oh. It's strong alright. I will give you that. Michiko does good work," I said. "But you have two problem. Number one, the shielding devices are too close. Number two, well, this cell isn't so strong from the outside."

With a grin, I glanced over my shoulder. Emiko was standing at the back of the room. In the bustle, she had placed herself a mere pace from the chanting shrine maiden. Her hand settled on the hilt of her sword.

Smart girl.

"Do it."

Kamiko jumped to her feet. "Belay that!"

Emiko did not stop. With one, smooth stroke, Emiko thrust her sword through the left lung of the shrine maiden. The chanting turned to bloody garbles. Bereft of half its support, the seal scattering my magic faltered.

I was already moving.

With a leap, I slammed into a spectral wall. My diminished jump reached a mere two meters, thanks to the suppression of my ki. I rebounded off the surface, ricocheting higher. Two meters became four. Four became six. I reached the second story roof. Twisting in midair, I slammed Gungnir through the wall of my prison. The spear punctured the barrier and split one of six shielding devices down the middle.

My prison wavered. Electric sparks exploded when the fragmented barrier brushed against the mystic seal. Placing both feet on the invisible surface, I wrenched Gungnir free, bounced once more, and stabbed through a second device.

"Stop that girl," Akina shouted, her silvery voice cutting through the din. "Michiko, reinforce Saotome's cell!"

Chaos followed Emiko's assault. The shrine maiden was spilled on the ground, kicked forward to free Emiko's sword. The magic knight threw herself across the hall, her form blurring into a green streak as she targeted the onmyouji opposite her.

It seemed that no one could stop her. Then Akane moved. My fiancée stepped into Emiko's path. Both arms drew back, mist and light writhing until they formed a megalithic piko piko hammer. With a great roar, Akane swung, catching the knight clean on her side.

_Piko!_

The squeak was almost comic. At first, Emiko hardly moved. Then, all at once, she vanished from my sight. _Boom!_ The bar's wall exploded when a streak of green shot through it.

Akane whirled to face me, eager to prove her worth.

I ripped Gungnir from a third device. I fell. The erratic play of Michiko's magic had turned my prison into a storm of light. Kinzu choked on the remnants of excessive power, letting my ki flow free. I drew my aura. Searing, pink light was channeled into my spear. Without tenki, it lacked perfection. But my megami no ooi was so refined that my strength was reduced to a mere third.

I made up the difference with raw power.

Gungnir's law added nothing to my attack. But this was a divine weapon. A master piece. In terms of weight, balance, and sharpness it challenged perfection. When touched by a warrior's spirit, it acted like a wand. Gungnir drank deep of my ki. It absorbed it. It shaped it. It effortlessly projected my will.

"Tenshi ittou!" I shouted.

The room flashed. A two-dimensional plane of pink cut across the bar. Along the line of my stroke, Michiko's barrier parted like paper. With it split the building itself. The cut was so smooth that the upper level began to slide as a single intact piece.

No good. I needed it to fall.

I fled the seal, tenki crystallizing around me. I twirled Gungnir. Three more blades of pink cut through the building. The haigeki enhanced vacuum blades tore through walls and ceiling. The building crumbled. I dived back, flashing toward the exit carved by Emiko's body.

Akane pursued. With a leap, she was in front of me. I went low, sliding under her hammer's strike. Gungnir flashed out. The haft of my spear teleported through Akane's guard. The steel pole cracked against the side of her skull. My fiancée stumbled backward.

With a final roll, I escaped the collapsing building.

I stood and dusted myself off. I flashed a smile at the magic knight stuck in the concaved surface of the neighboring building.

"You okay there?" I asked.

Emiko struggled to pull herself to her feet. "I c-can still fight, Saotome-sama," she wheezed.

_Crumble. Crumble._ Stones tumbled from the bar behind me. I glanced back. The rubble stirred. Like the cauldron of a volcano, rocks started to rise and fall. With each pulse debris rained down and the caldera grew higher.

I grimaced. Damn. That was supposed to buy me more time.

"Hold still," I ordered.

I flipped Gungnir to my off hand and seized Emiko's arm. With a jerk, I tore her from the wall. The knight stumbled and slumped against me.

"Thank you, Saotome-sama."

"No problem," I replied. "Now lets-"

_Whoomph!_ Concrete exploded from broken bar. A quintet of oni drew themselves to their full height. With spectral shields, they shoved rock aside. An annoyed Akina stood on the bar room table. The other senshi were gathered at her side. Kamiko crouched, her head shielded by her arms. Michiko was unmoved, her trust in her magic absolute. A score of nearby girls dusted themselves off as they rallied to their leaders.

Akina opened her throat. A sharp note pierced the heavens. Her cry was louder than a fog horn and more beautiful than an instrument. The air began to tremble. The oscillating atmosphere formed a colossal dome over the broken bar. The rubble rattled, cracked, then shattered into dust. More girls rose from beneath the gray morass.

The eyes of the army veered toward me. Girls pointed and voices shouted. They started to charge, rising like a tide over the broken building. A crowd of shikigami took the lead.

I threw Emiko over my shoulder and ran.

With two rapid twists, I scurried through the back alleys. _Bang. Bang. Bang._ Sparkling light exploded behind me in a barrage of artillery fire. Oni pushed through the clouds of dust and shrapnel, their three meters of height lending them speed.

With one last turn, I skid to a stop. With my right hand, I snatched a long chain dangling from a towering roof. I tugged twice while swinging Gungnir to face the fray.

_Tenshi osakebi,_ I thought, channeling haigeki. Magic pooled in Gungnir's shaft then burst from the spear's tip as a bullet. Two lances of pink light ripped through three oni. The giant monsters burst into smoke. Fluttering seals turned to ash.

A third shot followed. The pink bullet stabbed through the cloud, then reflected up to hit the third story of the alley wall. The two oni slowed to a stop. The demons knelt, raising silver disks. Invisible shields shrouded the alley, seen only through the displaced dust.

"Hurry up, damn it" I growled at the heavens.

Girls swarmed around the oni's feet, bypassing the manufactured demons. The first to charge were those wielding swords and spears. Behind them, girls hefted mystic rods and magic staffs. Poor coordination closed the lines of fire, wasting much of the Institute's strength.

Leveling Gungnir, I prepared another shot. Before I could fire, my right arm jerked up, dragging me into the sky. Emiko wobbled on my shoulder. Cringing, I adjusted my grip before she tumbled into the alley below.

_Whoosh!_ A giant boulder, wrapped in chain, flashed past me to crash upon the shikigamis' heads.

The crude elevator sent me soaring seven stories into the sky. I released the guiding chain as we approached the top. Gravity dragged at my velocity, slowing my ascent so that I landed perfectly on the tower's parapet.

"About time," I growled, shooting a nasty glare at the white robed amazon. "Were you trying to get me killed?"

"As if I would be so fortunate," Mousse lamented.

The boy kicked a broken hunk of rooftop. It tumbled over the parapet and onto the crowd below. Mousse gazed over the edge. He danced back a second later. Feathers, flowers, and fire hit the building in a torrential rain. Two meters of rooftop vaporized. The cries below grew louder when tumbling debris punished the assault.

Mousse laughed and posed tauntingly. "Fools!" he cried. "All is my weapon. Strike this building, and this building will strike you!"

The boy skittered back before anyone dared to attack. Casually, he folded his arms across his chest so that his hands were hidden in the crossed sleeves.

"And you, Saotome? How dare you whine about my lateness while cavorting with another girl. Is my Shampoo not enough? Must you steal every woman you lay your eyes upon?"

Emiko wiggled in my arms. "Saotome-sama would never do such a thing," she chided.

I set the knight on the ground. "Yeah," I said, nodding. "Those girls came to me. I haven't stolen anything."

"You make light of Shampoo's love? Die, villain!" Mousse shouted.

Dozens of sharp weapons exploded from Mousse's robes. I watched the display with bored disinterest. Instead of me, Mousse perforated an innocent transformer. Absently, I noted that the fool had not wasted any seals. Thank god for small favors.

Emiko tensed at Mousse's threat. Her fear became confusion. I patted her shoulder to ease her worries.

"Save the hissy fit for later, Donald," I drawled. "Is everything in order?"

Mousse turned. He turned again. Finally, the boy put on his glasses and found me. If Mousse was embarrassed about killing commercial equipment, he did not show it.

"I prepared everything as my darling Shampoo commanded," he said, stiffly.

"At least you are good for something," I snorted. I ignored his huff of indignation. "For now we work the roofs. Run the girls in circles. If you can, try to isolate a few and take them down. No kills. But don't be soft, either. Magical girls recover quickly.

"Once we've tied them in a few knots, we rally at-"

My orders cut off. To the East rose an airplane. Folded paper formed wings and fuselage. The triangular craft floated on the wind, winding its way higher. Standing in the airplane's crimp were three oni. The demons pounded crude clubs into open hands, their fearsome faces leering.

I aimed Gungnir. "Tenshi osakebi."

The spear recoiled like a cannon. A pink lance streaked through the sky, range and velocity amplified by my weapon. The bullet caught the craft at the tail. The fuselage fractured on impact, unleashing a spray of incendiary confetti.

Its core obliterated, the airplane veered into a deadly descent. The wings tore free. The oni fell to their death. Fluttering sheets of paper chased from behind.

Five more ships spiraled into view.

"Shit!" I spat. My gaze shot to the white robed boy. "Change of plans. Take Emiko to Cologne. I will meet up with you when I am finished with this mess."

"I will fight with you, Saotome-sama," Emiko volunteered.

I grunted in annoyance and fired a series of blasts. The first two obliterated a charging transport. A second, more distant, cargo ship turned in time to evade. I calculated my effective range. Half a kilometer.

"No you won't. You will be more use to Cologne," I argued. I forced Emiko to meet my eyes. "Cologne is the shriveled up gnome. For the rest of this battle, treat her orders as mine. Got it?"

Emiko's gaze dropped. "As you command, Saotome-sama," she said softly.

A single craft endured my anti-aircraft fire. A trio of shikigami leapt from the burning airplane. With reckless courage, they stampeded our position.

A pair of chains sprang from Mousse's robes. A steel claw ripped the face off the first demon. A kusarigama hooked in to bisect the others.

While Mousse handled melee, I continued to fire at the circling aircraft. Two paper constructs were torn from the sky. A larger ship replaced them. Instead of oni, it carried a quartet of magical girls. I took aim. Pink light splashed when it met an invisible shield.

The crew returned fire, their pitiful aim made worse by their unstable platform.

I leaned to the side, avoiding a spray of carrots. With squinted eyes, I spotted two of Michiko's silver disks belted to the aircraft's top.

"It's a freaking gunship," I complained.

I turned to Mousse. The robed boy casually finished five oni with as many strokes of his swords.

"Where is our line of retreat?"

"Retreat?" the boy asked scornfully. "There is no retreat. You will die here, alone, surrounded by an endless sea of foes."

A ray of rainbow light flowed over my shoulder. With her sheath, Emiko slapped the magic into the sky. Her shuken quaked, but held. The magic knight crouched defensively, her eyes tracking the targets. With the weapons she wielded, there was little she could do.

A pair of witches zoomed overhead, strafing the rooftop with fire and ice.

"In case you've forgotten, idiot, you're stuck here too."

Mousse's cackles slowed to a stop. Delight faded as he realized the fatal flaw in his murderous plot. I shook my head at his incompetence.

"Why am I the one stuck with all the morons?" I grumbled. "I bet Hikaru and Syaoran don't have to deal with this kind of shit." A memory of Fumio's hateful visage countered my complaints. I ignored it.

I slammed Gungnir's butt into the roof twice. The spear left nice, rounded holes in the concrete. Spindles of black and white twine flowed from the sleeves of my dress, weaving themselves into rope. The lengthening strands snaked their way down one hole and up the other. They tied themselves in knot.

Coils of rope rapidly gathered at my feet.

I looked to the sky. A ceaseless swarm of aerial oni approached on paper wings. I aimed Gungnir. A spattering of pink blasts annihilated a full half of the transports. Mousse and Emiko held off the horde that landed, ripping through oni with a casual ease.

With the approaching crowd thinned, I left the fight to them. Instead, I peered at a three story building a quarter of a kilometer away. I rolled my shoulders and judged the distance. Easy enough. With three running steps, I threw Gungnir. The spear slashed through the sky, dragging behind it a whipping line. The weapon sank deep into its target.

"Take Emiko and go," I ordered. My eyes swept over the growing army. I smirked. "As for me? I am going to teach these girls a thing or two about air superiority."

Light glinted off the lens of Mousse's glasses. "Don't expect any thanks, Saotome," the boy growled.

With a dash, he was off. Emiko let out a squeak when the Joketsuzoku warrior scooped her from the roof. With a great leap, Mousse caught the zip line with a loop of chain. The two flashed across the open road and over an intervening building. Far from the ensuing conflict, they disappeared into the streets below.

Cargo planes ferried oni to my roof. With resistance diminished, the crowd ballooned. The number approached two score. The gunship circled overhead. Cautiously it approached, its fear waning when I did nothing to drive it back.

I looked upon my foes and laughed.

Years ago, I had watched my fiancée handle a crowd twice this size. To be fair, few of them had been fighters. Fewer still had possessed the monstrous physique of demons. But I was stronger, faster, and tougher than Akane. I had tenki.

This was not war. This was entertainment. And I would be sure to enjoy it.

With a whoop, I charged. The swarm of shikigami met me head on.

Great clubs crashed down. I danced amongst them, leaves brushing my face and twigs scratching my dress. The circling gunship opened fire. The witches added to the brew, unleashing columns of fire and towers of ice. I cavorted in the chaos. With gentle steps, I wove between legs and ran over heads.

I did not lift a finger in offense.

I did not have to.

On this cluttered battlefield, friendly fire was in abundance. Oni attacked, their wild swings bruising their brothers. The gunship hammered my position, aiming at the flashes of my dress. Firing into melee was hard under the best of conditions. Doing so while moving was a recipe for disaster.

Magic tore the shikigami apart. They exploded into clouds of mystic smoke. With the field obscured, what little aim there was disintegrated into random assault.

I emerged from the crowd and rushed the parapet. I pulled my shuken tight, easing the quivers of my damaged aura. I imbued upon it fantasy and jumped.

Silk wings burst from my back. I glided, my fall transformed into a floating curve. I opened a hand. Ribbon poured from my dress, twining itself into a solid rod. I threw the harpoon. The tip punched through the wing of a transport plane. I grabbed the line with both hands and pulled.

The aircraft dipped from the force. Oni tumbled over the side as the airplane began to dive. Elastic thread amplified my motion. As though fired from a catapult, I sprang into the air. With my velocity increased, my glide became flight.

Magic flashed across my vision.

I flew over the main street, the bulk of the Institute's army in view. The girls had spotted me, but the range and angle made the shot all but impossible. I zoomed in with my glasses, grabbing the chance to steal intelligence from my enemy.

Jutting from the bar's ruins was a silvery structure. Three metallic pillars surrounded an empty platform. Attached to the monstrosity were thick cords wrenched from the earth. Tokyo's electric grid fed Michiko's magic.

Beside the device was the onmyouji. She tossed onto the platform a paper seal. The pillars glowed, electric arcs stretching between them. The giant arms began to spin, shedding a shower of light. An oni took form. The machine slowed. The demon stepped off the platform and another paper seal took his place.

The mass manufactured shikigami gathered in a reserve squad. From there they were section off. Half the conjured troops were sent to join the legion of infantry, disposable trash to guard the Institute's girls. The rest were sent to a second staging area. There a lone girl folded giant sheets of paper into airplanes.

My focus snapped to the battle. I was passing over my target. I dived. In less than a second, I slammed into the gunship's shields. The spectral barrier flared at my touch.

The mystic surface was like glass. My heeled shoes slipped then stuck, shuken granting perfect traction. The crew scrambled, shocked by my presence. They raised their weapons. Pretty rods and cutesy staffs glowed ominously.

"Tenshi osakebi!" I yelled.

I slapped my palms atop the barrier. Magic detonated. The shaped explosion blasted through the shields in a spear of pink light. It punched through a paper wing. Burning confetti unraveled and the gunship began to list.

The barrier shattered and I fell through intangible air. The crew lurched, spraying magic in every direction. My arms were numb and my hands sang with tortured pain. Not daring to use them, I opened my assault with kicks. The first two blows sent girls flying from the paper craft.

My luck changed.

My onward rush had left shuken exhausted. Bereft of its defense, random chance caused the princess's wand to sway in my direction. Rainbow light sprayed across my chest, blowing me out into midair.

Colorful spots floated through my vision and warm fuzz spread through my veins. Dizzily, I blinked. A bubbly happiness eclipsed the aching of my ribs. I giggled, delighting in the wonderment.

A witch blurred past The girl dived at a sixty degree angle, her pointy hat staying in place in defiance to physics. The witch reached out, catching Carrotcake in her open arms.

At the same moment, I snagged the witch's broom with my thread.

Stunned by the weight of her friend, the witch failed to notice the second mass. She swerved up, accelerating anew. I was dragged forward, my body still swinging down with weight of gravity. High heeled shoes hit the road and skidded over asphalt as though it were water. With a bound, I flew into the sky. I twisted at the end of my rope, ricocheting off buildings as I built speed. My threads grew shorter with each passing second.

"Weee!" I exclaimed with giddy delight.

The broom veered over a roof then slowed. Carrotcake hit the ground. The witch spotted me. Her mouth gaped as I continued my flight. She fumbled her wand then whipped out a flare of fire into my path.

I blew through the spread of flames as though they were wind.

Barely singed, I slammed onto the back of the broom. The pole sagged. The bristles scrapped across ground. My momentum sent us spinning over the building's edge. The world rolled around us. The witch flailed and screamed.

"Eeaaah!"

Riding side saddle, I laughed. Thanks to the princess's rainbow burst, I was brimming with a child's delight.

The witch found her center before we hit ground. Desperately, she seized the broom's shaft. The spinning slowed and our fall straightened into flight.

"Hi," I said, leaning over the witch's shoulder.

The witch looked back and gulped. Fearfully, she raised her wand. The heart tipped stick shook between her fingers. I offered a beaming smile and placed a gentle hand on her neck. My haigeki burned through her shuken. Threads of pink slid into the gap before plunging into the witch's skin. They wiggled, burrowed, then wrapped around her spine.

_Connection_.

Suddenly, I could taste the dryness of her mouth. I could feel the trembling of her muscles. I knew the fear burbling in her gut. The witch's feelings were my feelings. Yet, they were distant. That was the nature of this circuit. She was the one bound by my thread. With them I could pluck her nerves and make her dance.

The witch was my puppet.

It was a grotesque magic. I despised it. It reminded me of what I had become. XT-11. If I pushed, I could enslave her completely. I could feel my spirit melting into the nerves of her spine. If I wanted to, I could place in those threads whatever feelings I desired. Then I could cut them off, letting them ride in her soul, a parasite attached to an unwilling host.

Or so I speculated. It was Cologne who had pushed me to try my magic. At her encouragement, and Mousse's unwilling assistance, I had learned to control others. But never had I taken the plunge into the abyss.

The witch's soul twisted in my grasp. Her haigeki clawed at my dominion, seeking to tear the threads that controlled her. I formed a thought and sent it scurrying along the wire. _I'm a friend_. _A senshi. __You want to serve me._ The idea smashed through her skull. The witch shuddered. Her demeanor shifted. Fear evaporated, replaced by soaring joy. She wanted to be my puppet.

This was what Shizue had done to me. Her dollification had bypassed my resistance. With a single tweak, my mind had switched from foe to ally. I remembered the feelings she had given me. The terrifying emptiness. The sweetness of submission. Rainbow brightness turned to gray when touched by that bitterness.

"Forward," I commanded.

The witch responded to my will. We surged forward, flying higher as we picked up speed. We zoomed amongst buildings, banking and rolling to round the curves.

In a flash, we were back to the main battlefield.

The Institute's main force had moved. The thick ranks stood at the foot of the three story structure bearing Gungnir. Two centuries of shikigami were positioned at the wings. Air transports buzzed through the sky, dropping more oni onto rooftops.

I smirked at the sight. How convenient. I had been wondering how I would get Institute's attention. And here they were, giving me the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

With a mental nudge, the witch increased her speed.

The mob opened fire. Magic filled the sky with fanciful death. I controlled our flight by remote, pulling us into a wide roll to evade the scattered strikes.

The assault was too thick.

I had caught the mob dead on. All thirty girls chained their attacks. At this range, their lack of skill proved no detriment. The volume of fire itself was enough to guarantee hits. I grit my teeth and shoved my shuken forward. By nature, my defense was elegance. With skill, I transformed it into barrier.

Thread exploded from my dress. It wove itself into a wall of checkered cloth. A dozen attacks tore at its surface. The blows shuddered through my spirit, ripping fabric and thinning my shuken. The intensity only grew worse as I neared the throng.

I was not going to make it.

"Damn," I growled.

With a twitch, new orders were transmitted. The witch veered left. We vanished into a narrow alley. Enemy fire ceased, blocked by thick buildings. We flew low, circling the Institute's army. If a frontal assault was too much, I would claim Gungnir from another direction.

A dark cloud passed overhead.

I looked up. A torrent of arrows obscured the sun. My eyes traced their arc to a towering building. Seven stories tall, the same one I had abandoned. I knew it instantly from the cord that ran from the roof to where Gungnir rested.

Magic gathered. A halo of light crowned the tower. At the highest point, I spotted a girl drawing her bow. Around her, a legion of oni did the same.

They fired.

The first sheet of arrows fell upon us. The witch swung to the side. The shower of death gave chase. A thousand homing bullets flowed into the streets. The projectiles swirled as they pursued, looking like a cloud of angry bees.

I leaned forward, my breasts pressing into the witch's back. I blended my shuken with hers. Our fantasies tangled. The sensation was disturbingly intimate. It felt as though our souls were becoming one. _Th-thud_. _Th-thud_. Our hearts beat in sync. My power was added to hers. The broom bucked beneath us then exploded forward with increased acceleration.

With rolls, turns, and dives, we navigated a series of structures at a blinding pace. The arrows screamed after us. The wooden spears turned too slow. Glass burst and cement walls were turned to porcupines. Explosions of purifying light echoed in the wake.

Arrows fell like rain. Wave after wave was unleashed. We rounded a corner. I glared at the sky. I saw blue through the whirling mass.

"Up."

The broom went vertical.

We climbed. The swirling mass of darkness twisted around us. The flock of angry missiles closed in from every angle except above. So thick were the arrows that they shrouded the world in a curtain of death.

With a whoosh, we flashed over the parapet of the tower. The archer rested on her bow, drawing heavy breaths. Wearily, she raised her head. She glanced from side to side in hopes of spotting me. She froze when the witch passed over her.

I dropped from the broom, lengths of thread keeping me attached. I swung, feet forward, my body half a meter above the cement blurring below.

_Thud!_

The archer folded over my shoes. The blow carried her ten meters before I kicked her free. She tumbled seven stories to the street below. I glanced back. The torrent of arrows swept over the roof, undeterred in their pursuit.

Tch! My expression fell. Then, just as fast, it rose when I saw the angle of their flight. I broke into a wide smirk.

The witch dragged us over the battlefield. The Institutes's army seethed below. This time both speed and angle favored me. The distance between us was too small, and the whole of the army was not facing me. I separated from the broom, flying so fast that I barely needed the wings that formed on my back. The witch turned down, flashing past me as she dived into the crowd.

A thousand heat seeking arrows followed.

The cries of the Institute and the rush of the air hid the first bars of Akina's song. Four acoustic bullets lashed out. Three flew wide, the hurried shots unable to catch me in midair. That last took me in the chest. The blast of sound sent me spinning. Air was driven from my lungs and my bones were vibrated to numbness.

I hit the roof. The impact dislocated my right shoulder. Somehow, I tumbled into a controlled roll. I crossed half the roof in a blink. I flashed to my feet, wrenching Gungnir free as I slid past. The spear span in my grip, slaughtering four shikigami with a single stroke.

Two more pulses of sound crashed into my weakened shuken. Gungnir danced in answer, severing the magic as easy as flesh.

"Even an army does not deter you," Akina remarked. "You are fearless."

I shrugged my shoulder back into place. The cool touch of shuken eased the pain. "I just wanted to drop in and say hello."

"And Kamiko accused me of excessive exuberance. I begin to wonder if I brought enough girls." Akina's ruby lips were curved with mirth. She flowed into a curtsy. "May I have this dance, kohai?"

I curtsied back. "It would be a delight, senpai. But, I must refuse. Pressing matters and all that."

A dozen shikigami stirred upon the roof. Two armed and armored magical girls backed them. The group curved in front of me, hoping to force me toward the army at my flank. Lilac was at Akina's side. She held her flower rod ready, her cute, puffed up face showing anger.

"How elegant. Did a few of my lessons take?" Akina asked. Her smile stretched. "But there is no need to rush. If not I, then perhaps you would favor Michiko?"

Wind roared. A monstrous battleship floated into view. The giant aircraft was twice as big as the others, and its body was made of aluminum foil. Four bulky shielding devices were built into the battleship's wings. A pair of heavy cannons were welded to the underbelly.

As crew, the battleship bore a contingent of girls. Six wielded long ranged weapons. Two were equipped for melee combat. Piloting the device was Michiko herself. The weapon system seethed with her power.

The cannons glowed. _Screeeeeeee!_

The brilliant beams shattered the air. The sky went white. I dived to the side while lifting Gungnir. The first lance missed by centimeters. The second caught the spear's mirrored blade. Coached by my shuken, light reflected, slicing across the mass of shikigami on my left. The demons evaporated into smoke. The magical girl amongst them was blown from her feet.

Gungnir's steel shaft burned in my palms.

An angel's song filled the silence. Sonic bullets fell on my position. Lilac danced. The battleship showed its broadside. The girls manning the ship opened fire. Explosions tore the building apart.

I was in motion. With twirling acrobatics, I flowed through the fire. Shuken crumbled under the assault. I beat a fast retreat, not foolish enough to face the overwhelming force. With a hop, I was off the roof and in the middle of an alley.

A sea of shikigami met me. Gungnir flickered, turning demons into dust and smoke. A spattering of magical girls rushed in, backed by infinite oni. I pressed forward. Gungnir was like lighting. With rapid thrusts I ripped through the army. Nothing that stood within three meters of me survived. Every strike of Gungnir slew an oni. Every swing felled a girl.

The battleship swung into view. The cannons glowed with deadly intent. _Screeeeeeee! _The air shook and the alley lit with daylight sun. I rolled low to avoid the deadly shots, my shoulders seared by the heat. I jumped to my feet, forcing my shattered shuken back into place.

The shikigami pressed closer.

Pushing through the crowd was too slow. I took to the sky. With a single bound I was on a demon's head. I ran forward, using walls, shoulders, and weapons as foot holds.

Rays and bullets flew past me as magical girls fired into the openings. An assault of flowers drew blood from my hip. Akina crossed over head, her golden skirt fluttering as she leapt from roof-to-roof. Fast paced notes pierced the cacophony.

A fist of air smashed me to the ground.

I pounded into the concrete so hard that black splattered through my vision. Dizzily, I rolled to my feet, thankful that the attack had destroyed all the shikigami around me.

The battleship slipped back into view.

I threw myself into the nearest building.

Glass shattered when I crashed through the window. The crystal edges barely scratched, my supernatural toughness too great for mundane concerns. _Screeeeeeee! _The alley exploded with light. Beams carved trenches along the road.

I stood, firing a few tenshi osakebi through the portal to deter pursuit.

With a dash, I vanished into the vacant department store. My fingers flashed over the rim of my glasses, cycling for aura mode. An army of oni and girls maneuvered outside the building's walls, looking like a glob of violet light oozing in chase. The battleship hovered overhead, bright green even when hidden by multiple walls. Fainter still were the paper airplanes that flashed through the sky, transporting girls in hope of cutting me off.

_Screeeeeeee! _The cannons fired again. White light stabbed through the wall mere paces from me. Cement exploded from the heat. Dribbles of steaming lava rained upon me, burning flesh.

Daylight flowed into the department store. The now visible battleship leaned slightly, giving the crew a line of fire. Glowing bullets rained down in machine gun fire. I continued to run. The stream of magic pursued, tearing the building apart.

So that's how you want to play it? I smirked. Fine with me. But they better not cry when I made the game more interesting.

I swerved and charged the battleship. The elements of love, light, and beauty fell as a destructive apocalypse. I faced the onslaught head on. A few moments of breathing room had repaired my shuken. Skill and magic joined as one. With casual ease, I deflected the spells with the well timed parries of my spear.

With a leap, I passed through the hole the girls had carved. The angle of flight sent me sailing toward a second building. I leveled Gungnir.

"Tenshi osakebi."

A pink blast erupted from Gungnir's tip. The adjacent wall blew in. I fell through the aperture. Heeled shoes touched tiled floor. I pushed off, my dash resumed without the slightest pause. Akina, in her midnight blouse, floated in behind. A haunting melody filled the hall, followed by a quartet of acoustic bombs.

I hopped, pushing off a wall in an acrobatic spin. The invisible bullets detonated around me.

I shot Akina a grin, then vanished amongst display cabinets.

"Decide to join me, senpai?" I called out.

"To corner the boar, one must send in the hounds," Akina commented. "As savage as that role may be, I find that I am the only one able to bay at the beast."

Akina's words lifted into song. Spears of sound, painted a ghastly green by my glasses, took form ahead of me. I dived low, passing under them before flipping back to my feet. _Screeeeeeee!_ A pair of beams tore through the wall. Shuken took hold, twisting my body so that the lances of white flowed to either side.

With a moments pause, I jumped through the hole created.

I dropped four meters into the alley below. Above, Michiko's battleship twisted to gain an angle of fire. I dashed away, zig zagging through a sequence of tight turn. Akina gave chase. A torrent of oni filtered in from behind. Paper airplanes streaked overhead to dump their cargo in my path.

I came to a stop.

Fifty meters away, nosing into a narrow corridor of solid brick, was Michiko's battleship. The magical girls bearing melee weapons dropped from the ship's wings. Paper airplanes stopped just behind, adding four more girls and a dozen shikigami to the mix.

Akina's dash slowed to a crawl. She held up a hand. The army behind her slowed.

"It was a merry chase while it lasted, Saotome, but your luck has run out," Akina observed.

I laughed. Lazily, I placed Gungnir on my shoulder while I turned to face her. "Yeah," I said cheerfully. "There is no running from this."

Akina's breath froze. Her head snapped to the sheer brick walls of the alley. The corridor was five stories in height. I stood at the center. Behind me was Michiko's battleship. Ahead was Akina, an army of shikigami, and a twisted series of alleys that would stifle retreat.

I spread my arms in greeting. "Welcome to my killing field."

The alley walls exploded.

-oOo-

**Ending Notes:**

**Trivia**

**Petawatt** – A unit of measure defining the energy output in a second. A petawatt is 1x10^15 watts. That is enough energy to power the entire modern world fifty-times over.

**Thunderdome** – From Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. _Two men enter, one man leaves._

**Piko Piko Hammer** – A child's toy hammer. The piko piko hammer is named after the _piko_ sounding squeak it produces on impact.

**Techniques:**

List of techniques mentioned or appearing. Common Ranma ½ techniques are not included. All martial arts / ki / ki-like techniques are in (crappy) Japanese. Most magical girl powers are in English.

**_Tenshi Ittou _**[_lit. Angel Blade_] –Using Gungnir as a vector, Ranma generates a haigeki based vacuum blade. The resultant magic acts as a sword a dozen meters long.

As with all mystical cutting attacks, Tenshi ittou produces a blade the sharpness of which is inversely proportionate to the spiritual resistance of the target. Objects with low resistance, usually inanimate objects, are cut with trivial effort. Creatures and people with great spiritual resistance are instead bludgeoned.

_**Kairai Ito**_ _[lit Puppet Thread] –_ A lesser version of the Unmei Nuu Ito. Kairai produces temporary enslavement. This technique requires precision insertion to activate. Unconsciousness or minimal spiritual resistance are also musts, otherwise the intrusive threads will degrade. However, once in place the spell can be used to quickly end resistance through mental subversion.

After activation, the kairai ito has a range limit of half a kilometer. Also, the mental burden of the spell increases with the number of peopled controlled. Ranma's realistic limit is half a dozen.


	12. Pawn Promotion

**Author's Forward –** The end is nigh! The end is nigh!

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 12: Pawn Promotion**

-oOo-

_Akina's breath froze. Her head snapped to the sheer brick walls of the alley. The corridor was five stories in height. I stood at the center. Behind me was Michiko's battleship. Ahead was Akina, an army of shikigami, and a twisted series of alleys that would stifle retreat._

_I spread my arms in greeting. "Welcome to my killing field."_

_The alley walls exploded._

-oOo-

The roiling mass of brick caught Michiko's battleship on its nose, smashing it into the ground. A thick cloud of dust exploded. The fog rolled down the alley, obscuring all view while the cascade continued its roar for seconds. When the detritus settled, the path had been utterly sealed by a mountain of concrete and fired clay twelve meters tall.

Akina got off easy. Scattered blocks fell upon her force. Oni took the brunt of the blow. Demonic skulls were split. Ogre bones broke by the dozen. Eruptions of smoke signaled the demons' demise.

As for the Institute's girls? They were untouched. Mundane force parted when met by the fantasy of shuken. Colorful dresses and shimmering jewels were not so much as tarnished by the grime that stained my lungs.

I smiled, drinking the foul air. The muddy flavor had the taste triumph.

A classic analysis would call my position weak. The wall of debris cut off retreat. To escape, I would have to force my way through the heart of the Institute's army. No matter my skill, sixty girls would wear me down. The scrapes and bruises would accumulate. My arms would grow heavy. My lungs would burn with each breath. My spiritual strength would be drawn to its limit.

Then, I would fall.

But that was a shallow reading.

Fighting sixty girls on an open field was suicide. Fighting them here? I smirked. The corridor constraining us was barely wide enough for four to fight side-by-side. Given how rarely the Institute drilled team tactics, Akina would be lucky to field three.

For all the good it would do them.

The Pretty Princess Institute's strength was ranged combat. The alley cut the lines of fire and transformed this battle into a melee fight. There, I had them outclassed. If I limited myself to my bare hands, I was match for five of the Institute's best. With Gungnir, the Institute's odds dropped to zero. The spear sliced shuken with contemptuous ease. With it in hand, any girl who stepped within reach faced instant defeat.

Here, within this alley, I could destroy the entire Institute singlehandedly.

_Thump. Th-thump. Thump_.

Ukyou touched ground, her fluffy skirt fluttering. Shampoo joined an instant latter. The Joketsuzoku warrior hefted her hammers, the rounded heads wrapped in paper seals. Mousse was at her side, an armada of weapons hidden beneath his Chinese robes. Emiko was the last to reach the alley floor. The nervous knight unsheathed her crystal epee and stood at my side.

Yes. Here I could defeat the Institute. Or, if I so wished, I could have my army do it for me.

"Charge!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Akina's eyes widened. The idol took an unconscious step back. Then experience cut her panic. With an echoing voice, Akina called the only order that granted the Institute salvation.

"Retreat!"

Without a backward glance, Akina took flight. Her golden skirt and midnight bodice vanished amongst shikigami. Her troops stirred. The line folded behind her then fell back.

It was hopeless. I had chosen this alley for a reason. The narrow corridor offered but one path to escape. The kink in the middle destroyed line of sight. To bypass it, troops were forced to maneuver. Under ordinary conditions this would have proved no problem. In the chaos of battle? It was a disaster.

Akina's sharp voice failed to penetrate the buildings around her. Her girls were unseasoned and her shikigami dull witted. As the front tried to retreat, the rear continued to pour forces inward. The confused center tangled upon itself. The alley had become a plug.

The wrecking crew hit the front line like a freight train.

There was no comparing my soldiers to the Institute's. Mousse, Shampoo, and Ukyou were warriors. And not just in the sense that they were highly trained. No. Those three had shed sweat and blood for their strength. They had practiced until their hands were raw. Their skills had been forged in deadly combat. On an ancient battlefield, all three would have been lauded as heroes.

Against warriors, Akina set civilians.

Of the two-hundred girls at the Institute these, no doubt, were the most loyal. Strength would be a secondary consideration. Desertion could not be allowed. That was not to say they were untrained. Akina was a veteran. She knew better than to bring liabilities onto the field. A handful of her troops would even be strong. The tough girls. The sporty types. The ones who had studied kendo, karate, and judo.

But, when pitted against the wrecking crew, those girls would have fared better in a no-holds-barred cage match against a world classed, mixed-martial-arts champion.

The fight was not even vaguely fair.

It was a massacre.

The front line of Akina's army was made of shikigami. The demons did not slow the wrecking crew at all. Shampoo took the lead. Like a vicious beast, the warrioress smashed her way through the horde of oni. Her hammers were like battering rams. They shattered clubs and crushed chests. Those who were not slain outright were sent careening to her sides.

Only to come face to face with Ukyou and Emiko. With sharp cries and brutal swings, the magical chef left in her wake a slaughter of demons. Emiko lagged in comparison. Her crystal epee showed her hesitation. The tip trembled, halting between blows, as though always fearing a counter attack.

Mousse made up for her weakness. The robed boy may have held the rear, but nearly half the kills belonged to him. With acrobatic leaps, Mousse unleashed talons of steel. Knives decorated exposed throats. Spears pierced guarded hearts. Axes split arrogant skulls. Chained weapons of every shape and size ripped through the oni ranks, reaping them like so much wheat.

A sharp, silvery voice cut through the cacophony.

"Fire!"

Shikigami turned to mist. A river of magic crashed into the wrecking crew. My front line flinched. Shuken activated. Emiko's scabbard became a whirlwind and Ukyou's spatula a steel shield. While the knight cringed, the chef stayed solid. With great sweeps, Ukyou cleared the destructive barrage, guarding not only herself but the defenseless Joketsuzoku warriors.

With alley cleared, I spotted the source of the salvo. Ten meters ahead crouched a line of three magical girls. Just behind them a second squad stood tall. Directing the unit from the third rank was Akina, her hand held high.

"Don't just cover yourself. Cover the others!" Ukyou barked.

"Fire!" Akina commanded again.

Ukyou order pierced Emiko's panic. The wave of the magic smashed into a solid wall of parries. The wrecking crew trudged a few steps forward. Akina's voice lifted high in a six-beat, staccato rhythm. The third volley shattered shuken and forced Ukyou and Emiko to their knees.

Instead of having the first rank raise again, Akina knelt. The tactic that followed surprised even me. A flood of shikigami rushed in from behind. With giant jumps, the demonic horde cleared the heads of the ducked girls.

Oni crashed into the wrecking crew. With Emiko and Ukyou weakened, Joketsuzoku warriors were forced to give ground. Our momentum was gone. Before the wrecking crew could regain it, the alley emptied again. Akina's squad opened fire, unleashing havoc on my forces.

The alley had become double edged sword. For the wrecking crew, it diluted the Institute's strength and constrained their retreat. Here we could force the Institute to fight one-on-one. With my troops being of superior quality, it was the perfect recipe for defeat in detail.

Akina had turned my tactic on its head. While the alley restrained the Institute, it also restrained the wrecking crew. The tight quarters provided little room to dodge. The short range improved the Institute's aim. Against their magic, shuken was the only guaranteed defense.

And it would not hold for long. The pause between waves had given Emiko and Ukyou a moment to recover, but I could sense the cracks running through their auras.

I grimaced and raised Gungnir. A gnarled staff set itself against my spear.

"Reserve your strength, son-in-law," Cologne commanded. "You have done your part. Let us do ours."

I glanced at the matriarch. Cologne had joined me in my moment of distraction. Warily, I returned my eyes to the field. The second curtain of fire had died. A new wave of shikigami swept over the Institute's heads.

"Ooowaaa!" Shampoo roared. With reckless courage, the girl rushed forward.

"Ooowaaa!" Ukyou and Mousse echoed the battle cry. The whole of the wrecking crew matched Shampoo's charge. Caught off guard by the sudden counter attack, the line of oni broke. The advancing force picked up speed.

But not enough of it. When the alley cleared a third time, the distance had been sliced by a bare half. Akina's hand fell once more.

Cologne was already in motion. The ancient matriarch vanished from my side. A silver lightning bolt ricocheted off the alley walls, crossing thirty meters in an instant. The ghoul smashed into the army like a meteor, her staff crackling thunder. Explosions of ki blinded my sight and rent the army askew.

The girls fell into chaos. Akina countered. The idol's voice rang like the percussion of a gun. The deadly notes shattered upon Cologne's staff. The matriarch swept her weapon in reply. A lion of misty light burst forth. The great cat caught Akina between its teeth and drove her through the alley wall. Cologne vanished, pursuing the enemy general.

The wrecking crew crushed the frozen Institute.

Mousse took the lead. With a giant leap, he flew over the squad of girls, unleashing a shower of steel. Ukyou and Shampoo slammed into the enemy ranks. The first few girls were destroyed in seconds. The remainder made a desperate, disorganized retreat.

While that knot of magical girls crumbled, a surge of shikigami reinforced.

Scattered by their brash attack, the wrecking crew fell back. My troops gave a score of meters before squaring their squad. Again, Shampoo led the crew. With a furious push, the Joketsuzoku warrior reclaimed our lost ground. But the momentum again was gone. The fight settled into a slugging match. Slowly, the wrecking crew ground the Institute into dust.

I evaluated the result with a keen eye. The situation was stable, and while not optimal, satisfactory. I turned to face empty air.

"Konatsu," I called.

Smoke exploded. From within the gray haze appeared a kunoichi. She knelt before me, her ample breasts displayed by the window of her lavender leotard. A wakazashi was strapped to the kunoichi's back and a multitude of darkened projectiles covered her weapon belts.

Konatsu. Tenki had taken this feminine man and transformed him into a beautiful woman.

"Ranma-dono," Konatsu intoned, her head bowed low.

"What does it look like?" I asked.

Konatsu's gaze lifted, but the kunoichi remained in her formal stance. "The Institute's forces have ceased their inward push. The senshi Kamiko seeks to reorganize their force. Soon they will have freedom to retreat."

I nodded. Kamiko had displayed inexperience earlier, but the woman was far from stupid. She was a natural leader. Her plot would be simple yet effective. A slight scowl made it to my lips. I had hoped for better progress. The wrecking crew was still twenty meters short of the kink in the alley.

"Are they still generating shikigami?"

"They halted production five minutes ago," Konatsu replied.

"Good. Kamiko is unfamiliar with combat. Her first reaction would be to solidify her forces. If the creation of shikigami has stopped, the onmyouji must be exhausted," I deduced.

That was one worry off my chest. I had known from the start that Michiko's gadget would not provide an infinite source of oni. The onmyouji clearly had to invest something into her talismans before letting the machine finish the job. But, until now, the upper limit had been pure guesswork. If the onmyouji had stopped, I could assume the Institute could no more than double the current size of its demonic force. And probably not that.

My brow creased. With the exception of Emiko, the wrecking crew was solid steel in terms of endurance. I was confident that they would win against a thousand shikigami. But, letting the Institute wear my troops down was a foolish plan. Especially with the Joketsuzoku warriors operating on borrowed time.

The optimal solution was to sweep in from behind. Destroy the machine. Take out Kamiko. Eliminate all that remained of the Institute's air force. Could it be done?

"How many troops are they holding in reserve?" I asked.

"Eight girls and half a century of shikigami," Konatsu said. Hesitantly, she added. "Akane is there as well."

I gave a sharp nod. "A good choice for the reserve force. She will be difficult to deal with." I paused, pursing my lips in thought. "If eight girls is all they have, we can overrun the base."

"If you desire, Ranma-dono, I can scout an avenue of attack," Konatsu offered.

I frowned. My frown became a grimace. Something about this plan bothered me. "Wait! Did you see anything else? Machines?"

In my rush for victory, I had almost made a fatal error. The Institute's base was also Michiko's home ground. At the very least, it would be guarded by a 'battleship class' barrier. At the worst... My eyes narrowed. Turrets. I had yet to see any of Michiko's UFOs. There was no way the Institute had failed to bring a device so useful. It was logical then, to assume the Michiko had left them there, in the base, where they could feed off Tokyo's electric grid, sparing the scientist the burden of their operation.

I scowled. A barrier. Turrets. Eight girls. Fifty shikigami. I could see the result vividly. We would smash into the bar's outer defense then get bogged down in ranged combat. Kamiko would outflank us. The Institute's main force would crush us utterly.

"I am sorry. I did not think to look, Ranma-dono," Konatsu apologized.

"Then go back and do it right," I snapped. Then, just as quickly, I shook my head and retracted the order. "On second thought, don't bother. Michiko can cloak her toys."

Speculation was useless. Before invading the Institute's base, I had to see it through my glasses. Only then would I know what nasty tricks were hidden from sight.

Frustrated, I checked the front line again. The two armies were locked in heavy combat. For the moment, Ukyou was at the head. With a crushing swing, the chef bore down on a tiny girl wearing a doll-like dress. Her opponent parried with a pencil thin staff. The blow swept the girl off her feet.

A spray of hearts shot through the gap. Shampoo covered the breach with her hammer. The paper seals caked on the weapon let off tendrils of smoke. The spare moment gave Ukyou enough time to plant a spatula in each of the downed girl's thighs.

Five minutes. I could not count on the Joketsuzoku warriors lasting longer than that. Once the ofuda were gone, they would be forced to serve as support fighters. Fortunately, shikigami lacked shuken.

"Ranma-dono, shall I aid in the fighting?"

Shouts rose from behind. My eyes floated to the debris enclosing the path at my back. Two girls had summited the mountain of rubble, a gleaming paladin in silver armor and a ballerina wearing a pink tutu.

"No. Not yet. What I need right now is intelligence," I answered. "But keep your eyes peeled. If the others get caught in a sticky situation, things might change."

"As you wish," Konatsu said, bowing her head. She vanished in a burst of smoke.

With Konatsu gone, I faced the new girls. The paladin raised her heavy broadsword. With a piercing glare, she descended. The ballerina began to dance. A magical pirouette unleashed a swarm of glittering sparks. The rays spread wide before homing in on my position.

I pointed Gungnir and opened fire.

Two pink bullets were launched in less than a second. The ballerina evaded with an elegant twist. A deceptive illusion cast by shuken. In truth, the ephemeral claws of my haigeki ripped her aura apart. Tenki became skewed. The ballerina's pink tutu faded, allowing a glimpse of the clothes she wore underneath.

With shuken shattered, there was no avoiding the second blast. It took the ballerina straight in the chest. The tenshi osakebi threw the girl back two meters before exploding. The brilliant flash obscured further view.

With a roar, the paladin continued her charge.

The ballerina's magic fell upon me. I narrowed my profile and slipped through the rain of golden darts. What I could not avoid, my threads deflected. Each blow chipped at my aura. The force was weak yet persistent, like the strike of a child's fist.

With a final step, the paladin came into range. Her sword formed a vertical arc. With disdain, I leaned to the side, evading it cleanly. Gungnir flashed up. Steel plates parted like water. A crimson line was drawn across her chest. Before the paladin could blink, I rotated Gungnir and smashed her skull with the spear's haft.

_Crunch_. The paladin slammed into the alley wall, breaking brick with her body. Slowly, she slumped to the ground. I stabbed the girl's sword arm. One last wound to ensure her injuries were greater than shuken could repair.

I glanced over the field to ensure I had missed nothing.

A shikigami fell from the sky.

The oni hit pavement with a sickening crunch. Its bones broke. The fractured ends ruptured flesh. The grotesque sight lasted a mere second before the demon turned to dust. My eyes jerked up.

Oni gathered on the roof. A single magical girl stood amongst them, peering down to judge whether the drop was fatal.

A paper airplane whisked overhead.

I quirked a smile. Simple yet effective, Kamiko's plan was everything I thought it would be. By placing her girls on the roof, Kamiko obtained the high ground and with it superior lines of fire. The wrecking crew's advantage was gone. If we stayed in this alley, we faced annihilation.

The straightforward tactic revealed a mistake. Kamiko looked at this alley and saw walls, a cavernous trench that could not be breached. I looked and saw buildings.

"Fall back!" I ordered. "We are moving to phase two."

I opened fire with a trio of tenshi osakebi. The pink bullets obliterated the edge of the roof. With graceful steps, the girl danced out of view. The lumbering oni lacked her agility. The demons tumbled over the edge and fell to their doom.

I turned my back to the occupied roof. Gungnir flashed through a four stroke combination. Haigeki roared down the spear's shaft. A heavenly blade cut through the wall before me. Stone fell inward as a single, rectangular block.

I stepped inside then waited for my army to join me.

The wrecking crew retreated. Shampoo and Mousse fled flat out. Ukyou and Emiko handled the controlled withdraw. The Joketsuzoku warriors flew past me, Shampoo flashing a saucy smile and Mousse a seething glare.

The Institute's reaction was glacial. Rather than push against our moment of weakness, girls stood about in confusion. The Institute's inexperience granted my soldiers all the breathing room they needed, making an otherwise difficult retreat trivial.

Doubt vanished. A great mass of shikigami shoved forward.

Ukyou and Emiko stopped at my side. The magical knight leaned against a wall, heavy breaths escaping her lungs. The exertion of battle had drained her strength. Ukyou, on the other hand, practically bounced with boundless energy.

"Kind of early to pull out, don't you think?" Ukyou asked.

With a casual gesture, the cook flung a brace of shuriken. The sharpened spatulas cut deep into a pair of shikigami. Undeterred, the demons pushed in through my doorway. Ukyou stepped forward. A broad swing beheaded the first oni. A backslash blew the second's weapon aside. Emiko hesitated for a fraction, then surged forward to stab the shikigami's neck, slaying it before the opening closed.

"The flow has turned against us. The Institute is putting girls on the roof," I explained. "Until we trim their numbers to a more manageable size, I want to play it safe."

I appraised the green armored knight. "Emiko needs a breather. Partner with her, Ucchan. I will handle the front."

I lagged for a moment and fell behind. Demons rushed in close. I cut them down with lightning strokes.

Fighting shikigami barely qualified as exercise. The demons had no defense against Gungnir's law. My lazy thrusts destroyed them by the dozen. Gungnir laughed at their parries. The spear teleported past raised guards to pierce heart, head, or throat. What bent reality could not breach, the spear rent with its godly blade. Leather skin, thick ribs, and wooden clubs provided no resistance to Gungnir's point.

It was absurd. It felt as though I were cheating. I reprimanded myself for thinking that way. This was a war, not a sparring match. The only rule was that of winner and loser. If I wanted to test my mettle, I could arrange a duel at a later date. And when I did, I would set Gungnir aside so as to sharpen my edge.

We fled further into the building, passing numerous wooden doors. We reached a split in the hallway. There Emiko paused so she could be at my side. With a broad slash, I cut down two oni and faced her.

"Th-thank you, Saotome-sama," Emiko huffed. "I can fight now."

"It doesn't look that way to me," Ukyou scolded. "Don't run yourself ragged girl, we have a lot of work to do." The brown eyed chef offered an encouraging smile then turned her gaze to me. "The same goes for you, Ranchan. Do you need me to take over?"

With flickering thrusts, I slaughtered three shikigami.

"I could kill these things in my sleep," I snorted.

Ukyou flashed a smile. "Then I will leave it to you." The chef tapped the magical knight on the shoulder. "You are with me, Sugar. Don't worry about a thing. Good old Ucchan will show you the ropes."

Emiko nodded and let herself be led away by the magical chef.

I held the hall for another thirty seconds before falling back. The building was a maze. Dozens of rooms lined the cross connecting corridors. The small halls played havoc with the shikigami. The demons were forced to stoop, heads and shoulders bent as though they were hunched backed monsters. The oni dragged their heavy clubs across the ground. In the enclosed space, they preferred slow thrusts over their normal swings.

The Institute's girls hung back. On rare occasions, I would see their colorful dresses fluttering between demonic cannon fodder. I understood their reluctance to engage. The wrecking crew had run roughshod over them. They had gained the wisdom born of pain and bruises.

I continued my crawling retreat. My pace was measured. Too fast and I would leave the chasing army behind. Too slow and I would grind away at their numbers until I collapsed of exhaustion.

Slowly, carefully, I pulled the Institute into the jaws of my trap.

The horde of shikigami thinned. Magical girls took pot shots through the openings. My spear danced in my hands. Coils of flame were cut down. Waves of petals were torn part. What I failed to parry, I dodged. While my defense seemed invincible, I felt the sting of the Institute's blows. Shuken was an aura. No matter how hard I tried, I could not shield my spirit completely.

The wrecking crew burst in from the sides.

While I drew the Institute's fury, my troops had waited in ambush. They hit the column in a pincer attack, cutting the Institute's army in two. Ukyou and Emiko held the fore, a living wall that destroyed all hope of reinforcement. Shampoo and Mousse assaulted the divided force. Their deadly charge drove the Institute toward me.

With Gungnir in hand, I served as anvil to their hammer.

Ripped in half and attacked from all sides, the Institute disintegrated into chaos. A throng of shikigami were stomped into dust. The seven girls caught in between fell into panic.

We were merciless.

An angel had just enough time to face me before Gungnir cut her down. A fox girl with two bushy tails had quicker wits. The furry limbs gathered a crackling charge. Lighting flashed. Gungnir sliced the bolts apart. The electric energy dissolved into yellow motes. I stepped forward. The fox leapt back. I answered with brutal efficiency. My spear impaled the fox's left shoulder and pinned her to a wall.

I raised a foot and kicked her through the barrier.

While I was wrenching Gungnir free, a gowned girl attacked. A blast of crystals slashed across my face. I countered with a heavy swing. _Clink!_ A solid wall of diamond formed in my weapon's arc, cutting my strike short.

"Don't be down. Stand your ground. Fight! Fight!" A perky voice cried over the conflict.

A cheerleader raised her pom poms. A halo of heavenly light formed over the girls at my feet. Pretty stars rained down. Bloody wounds stitched themselves closed.

With a growl, I turned from the gowned girl and threw myself at the cheerleader.

Crystalline spikes were fired at my open back. I rotated my shoulders, leaning down. The bulk of the projectiles passed over me. One slipped through, clipping my arm and cutting my flesh.

Adrenaline numbed the pain. Gungnir span in my grip. I thrust. The blunt end of my spear slammed into the cheerleader's chest. The force sent her reeling three meters back. Her legs tangled upon the bodies of her companions dropping her at Joketsuzoku feet.

I stabbed rearward.

_Clink._ Gungnir met the gemmed barrier, the blade's tip penetrating ten centimeters deep. _Tenshi osakebi_. With vicious will, I unleashed my rage. Pink light exploded, bypassing the gowned girl's defense and sending her through a wall.

Healed, the angel picked herself up off the ground. Shampoo's hammer smashed her back down.

"Magical girl very annoying," Shampoo said, her nose scrunched in distaste. "Keep getting back up after Shampoo beat them."

Steel flashed. A knife buried itself in the fox girl before she could rejoin the fight. Mousse folded his arms into his robes and looked upon the defeated with disdain.

"Useless rabble. None of you are worthy of my wondrous Shampoo."

I gave the cheerleader a hard kick to the ribs. Her unconscious body flopped to the side. She was down and out.

"If you see any more healers, take them out first. Shuken offers no miracles, but with enough patchwork magic the Institute will have half these girls back on the front line," I said. I glanced at the Joketsuzoku warriors. "How are you two doing on seals?"

"Hmph," Mousse grunted. "I am not a child who needs his hand held, Saotome. I can keep track of my own armaments."

"Stupid Mousse use all but two seals," Shampoo chipped in. She fixed her companion with a scathing glare. "Shampoo have six. Not last long. As many girls at most."

I grimaced. The Joketsuzoku warriors were at their limit. I glanced at Ukyou and Emiko. The two of them held the line against the advancing Institute. I could already see the weight of the combat bearing down. Worst off was Emiko. She lacked the well trained endurance of the wrecking crew. But, Ukyou was not unscathed either. Her strokes lagged the tiniest bit. Her aura had a dullness not present with her initial transformation.

"Shampoo, support Ukyou and Emiko," I said, nodding at the front. "Rotate those girls out. I don't want anyone collapsing from exhaustion. Oh, and I know this is a tall order, but try to make those seals last. We have at least one big fight ahead of us. I will need you then.

"Mousse, you are on anti shikigami duty. Do. Not. Use. Any. More. Seals. You better have those two on spare unless the god damned world has come to an end, you hear me?"

Mousse gave me a nasty look before following Shampoo to the front. My threat was wasted. That moron would fight however he pleased. Nothing I said would change that. However, I had a marginal hope that Shampoo would keep him in line.

With the immediate issues addressed, I took a deep breath and called my eyes and ears.

"Konatsu."

Silence.

"Konatsu," I said louder.

The kneeling ninja appeared in a puff. She had been fighting. There were no outward indications. Konatsu skin tight leotard was pristine. But dirt, sweat, and grime would only show on a magical girl if she was moments from collapse. The clear give away was the erratic wave of Konatsu's aura. Shuken had been damaged.

I wanted to berate her. Nothing so far had justified Konatsu's breach. I froze the words in my throat. In this battle, I was general. Excepting strong cause, it was my duty to trust my soldier's judgment.

"Ranma-dono?"

I shook my head and refocused on the task at hand. "How does the battlefield look?"

"The Institute is regrouping. All the girls have been called back. Kamiko sent a wave of shikigami as a replacement. Roughly three score last I checked."

"Three score? Without girls? Even Kamiko knows that is a waste of resources," I said to myself. I frowned, pondering the riddle. Then I snapped my fingers. "She wants to keep us pinned. Kamiko is using the shikigami to hold us in place."

But what was Kamiko's plan after she had her girls? No matter. The quickest counter to Kamiko's strategy was to change mine.

"We need to move to the next phase. Konatsu, do you have a count on the Institute's numbers?"

"Twenty-two, Ranma-dono, but I may have missed a few. Kamiko has pulled from her reserves. Akane and two others have joined the fight."

Twenty-two? That few? If Konatsu was right, we had already defeated two-thirds of the Institute. Victory was in sight. But a score of girls was still a big number.

Shit. We needed to whittle them down a bit more. With the Joketsuzoku warriors out of the mix, that was going to be tough. But Institute had its own challenges. Kamiko no longer had an invincible force. She would have to be careful lest she lose all her remaining soldiers.

I eyed Konatsu. I glanced at the front line.

There were two ways to go about this. The first was to do what I was doing now. Maneuver, deceive, separate the enemy into smaller blocks, then destroy those units one by one with overwhelming force. If I were to pursue that strategy, I would need intelligence. In turn, that mean Konatsu could not be involved in the fighting.

The second method was to end this quick. One or two engagements would decide the outcome of this war. Another major loss would break the Institute entirely. It was risky. If I misjudged, we would be wiped out. On the other hand, a sudden shift of approach would not be anticipated.

Both strategies had their merits. But there was one thing that decided it for me. A long engagement gave the Institute time to think. If Kamiko held out long enough, she might realize that she did not have to defeat me _here_.

"Screw it," I said. "The Institute will be cautious from here on out. Tricking them a third time is wishing for too much. We are using operation heaven drop. Konatsu, from now on, you are working side by side with Ukyou and Emiko. Your job is to drop the Institute's girls. Leave the shikigami to the Joketsuzoku."

"Heaven drop?" Konatsu said, disbelieving. "Ranma-dono. The Institute has a score of girls and two centuries of shikigami. We cannot possibly succeed."

"And that is why it will work," I answered with a smirk. "Besides, we still have an ace up our sleeve. Since the ghoul has wondered off, I need you to-"

_Screeeeeeee!_

Burning, white hot beams of light ripped through the building's interior. My aura exploded into fragments of pink. Before I recognized I was under attack, shuken overwrote reality and threw me to the floor. Magic was all that saved me from near annihilation.

With panicked shock, I slammed the rim of my glasses. Aura mode flickered on. My eyes fixed on the terrifying green shape that floated in my vision.

Michiko's battleship.

"Shit!" I cursed, hopping to my feet. "Konatsu, find Cologne! The rest of you, with me. We are heading for the roof."

I broke into a run. _Screeeeeeee!_ _Screeeeeeee!_ Spears of brilliant fire seared through the building's structure. I dived into a stairwell, kicking the door off its hinges. We dashed up, meeting no resistance.

"Ranchan!" Ukyou cried, matching my mad dash. "What's the plan?"

The wrecking crew was on my tail, the Joketsuzoku warriors safely nestled within the protective scope of Ukyou's aura. A contingency that earned its keep when the magical chef deflected a beam that threatened to skewer Mousse.

Beam weapons, enclosed environments, and martial artists made a bad mix.

"For now?" I asked, kicking open the door to the roof. "Run like hell!"

Operation heaven drop. As plans went, it was as simple as they came. Climb onto a tall building. Then, as one unit, drop straight into the middle of the Institute's main force. It sounded crazy. That was because it _was_ crazy. But there was method to the madness. The wrecking crew was at its strongest in hand-to-hand. Operation heaven drop placed my troops neatly within the heart of the enemy. Once there, each of my soldiers would be able to take out a girl before the Institute could reorganize and counter attack.

Ukyou, Shampoo, Mousse, Konatsu, and Emiko. Between the five of them, that was one fourth of the Institute's functional girls. Twenty-two would be reduced to seventeen in an instant.

But there were two pieces that changed the equation entirely, Cologne and myself. The ancient matriarch was a match for the entire wrecking crew combined. As for me? I had Gungnir, a weapon that utterly trumped the defenses of lesser magical girls. With it I was guaranteed victory over anyone foolish enough to step within range.

Between the two of us, we doubled the effectiveness of my insane plot. And that was all that I required. Twenty-two to seventeen would be fatal for the wrecking crew. Twenty-two to twelve? We would crush the Institute utterly.

But, to pull it off, two things needed to happen. First, I needed Cologne. Second-

_Screeeeeeee!_

Twin beams ripped across the building's roof. _Crack. Crunch_. Heavy concrete collapsed along the trench the battleship carved.

-Michiko's battleship had to go.

"To the next building!" I cried.

The battleship twisted in midair, offering its crew perfect lines of fire. As magic exploded around us, I caught glimpse of an even more horrifying sight. The previously defeated gunship floated into view, increasing the attackers from six to nine.

_B-b-boom! _ The building rattled from the continuous fire. Stone wilted under the barrage. Hunks of rooftop sank into the floors below. The structure began to wobble as core components were reduced to dust. I reached the parapet and made the dizzying, fifteen meter jump to the neighboring roof.

Four paper airplanes streaked across my vision, dumping fourteen oni onto the path ahead.

_Th-th-thump_. The wrecking crew landed in series. I spared no glances and continued my onward rush. _BOOM!_ The building shuddered. In the street below, magical girls stood in formation. As a single unit, they unleashed another wave attacks. _BOOM! _The mystic blasts hit the building's foundation. The Institute was done with guerrilla tactics. They were going to force us to fight them on flat terrain even if they had to destroy the city to do it.

"Screw this. We are going down into the alleys!" I shouted. With Gungnir, I made a broad clearing stroke. "Tenshi Ittou!"

The plane of pink ripped through the shikigami, destroying every demon within the one-hundred and eighty degree arc.

_Screeeeeeee!_ Michiko's cannons pounded in retort. "Eiiaaa!" Shampoo shrieked. A beam seared her arm. The purple haired girl stumbled and rolled across the ground.

"Shampoo!" Mouse shouted.

"Don't stop! Pick her up and go!" I ordered.

I reached the building's edge and dropped into the space between. With heavy concrete between us and the gunships, the continuous volley was reduced to a trickle.

I paused for a couple of breaths to count our numbers. Five, including me. No one was missing.

Ucchan rested against the alley wall. Her eyes remained fixed on the two ships that were positioning for a new line of fire. "Ranchan, if we don't ground those ships, the Institute will wipe us no matter how many girls we finish down here."

"I know," I growled. I pounded a brick wall in anger. "Shit! If I had known Michiko would get that battleship back in the air, I would have finished her while I had the chance."

Earlier, I had been holding myself in reserve. Tactically my decision was sound. Involving myself in an uncertain battle, opening my army's flank, and leaving my troops unattended was a recipe for disaster. But hindsight revealed my choice as a mistake. I should have put Michiko down. I cursed myself for that error.

"Shit," I grumbled, scowling at the sky. "And now we can't pull out either."

The gunship and battleship swung across my view. Stray fire peppered our position. I led the wrecking crew into a tight alley. For now it was safe to hold here. With nine of the Institute's girls air born, Kamiko lacked the manpower to pin us in.

From a strategic view, my objectives had been met. I had established my candidacy and baited the Institute. But that did not mean I could withdraw. All three of Artemis's senshi were here. So too was the bulk of the Institute's fighting force.

Heading to the Pretty Princess Institute right now risked a dangerous confrontation. If Setsuna's plan had worked as intended, Artemis would be caught within the four emperors seal. The chanters would be easy targets. If Artemis were set free, the entire operation would go up in smoke.

In a way, I was lucky. If Michiko flew her battleship back home, there was a fair chance she could win the war right now. Instead, Artemis's senshi worked under the assumption that the Director was invincible. So, instead of securing their queen, they focused on their secondary objective, me.

Which meant, until Institute's air force was gone, I could not leave the field.

"Damn," I cursed again.

"Son-in-law. We have a problem," an old voice croaked.

Cologne dropped from an alley window to land at my side. I faced her, never more relieved to hear her voice.

"Tell me something I don't know," I grumbled, gesturing toward the sky. "If we don't do something about those ships, the Institute will tear us apart. Tell me you have a plan, because I am fresh out."

_Screeeeeeee!_ The banshee wail of Michiko's cannons shattered conversation. Through some sixth sense, Cologne evaded the blind attack.

The ancient matriarch wobbled back into a stable position. "No, son-in-law. We have a much bigger problem."

While Michiko's battleship angled for another shot. The gunship made a strafing run. Three magical girls let loose streams of mystic devastation. I pressed myself to the side of the alley, raising my arms to fend off falling debris. Once again, I was thankful for the Institute's rotten aim.

"What could possibly be-"

My voice froze. A ghostly wolf exploded from a rooftop. With monstrous jaws, Garmr caught the gunship. The frail barrier held for half a second, then shattered like glass. With the ship clenched between his teeth, Garmr wrenched his head from side to side. The massive force tore the paper airplane in two. A pair of girls plummeted to the ground and hit with a painful thud.

The great wolf pivoted in thin air, ready to pursue. Then Garmr stopped, his giant golden eyes focused on me. The wolf's lips peeled back in a lupine grin. Crushed between the beast's yellowed teeth was a girl. Blood flowed from fist sized wounds cut through her chest. The red oozed over her sequined dress, rolled down her leg, then dribbled from a bladed shoe.

Garmr lifted his muzzle and let the ice skater's corpse fall further in. With a sickening crunch, he bit again, shattering bone like tender.

"Greetings witch," Garmr said while he snacked. The beast swallowed. Thin, crimson rivulets spread through the wolf's misty flesh, casting his silver coat in a vile red.

"Garmr."

The name unwittingly escaped my lips. The sight of the skater's carcass burned itself into my memory. My stomach twisted. Anger began to boil. I was not naive. Brutal force held great risk. I had spilled no small amount of blood already. It was all but certain that at least one girl had died by my hand.

But death was not my intent. To see a girl murdered with such careless delight made me seethe.

Garmr laughed at my rage. "Did you think your crude curse would end me?"

"Cologne, take charge of the others," I growled. "I have a wolf to kill."

"What arrogance, witch," Garmr taunted. The beast prowled closer. "Do you forget who I am? I am guardian of Hel's gate. I walk freely between the realms of life and death. Your feeble magic cannot hope to bind me. But do your worst. Curse me with your spells. Twist my soul with your rotten threads. If you can teach me death, I will howl my delight."

The beast showed bristling teeth. "But should you show the slightest weakness, witch, know that I will see you unfit for that spear and haunt your heels for all eternity."

I trembled. In fury. In fear. My previous battle with Garmr had done little to inspire confidence. Gungnir offered small comfort. But I was not one to bow, even when faced by opponents far more potent than this wolf.

I drew my strength and stood tall.

"I killed you once, mutt. Do not think I cannot do it again."

Garmr let lose thunderous laughter. "Then let us clash and see who is greater, witch," Garmr growled. With that, the colossal beast titled back his head and howled.

"Aroooo! A-a-roooo!"

The force of Garmr's call made my bones shudder. Stone shattered. Debris rained down. Silver fire leeched through the earth. From hades itself marched an army of spectral wolves. Their long jaws dripped with saliva. Their eyes showed beastly hunger.

I charged.

An onslaught of wolves attacked. This time, I did not stand alone. The wrecking crew was at my back. With their strength, I bulldozed my way through the pack. Gungnir cut great swaths from the lunging mass. Cologne's staff smashed minions aside as though they were mere pups. Ukyou's spatula crushed ghostly skulls with every swing. Only Mousse and Shampoo withheld their offense, preserving their precious seals for mightier foes.

Garmr sat on his hinds and laughed.

I shoved Gungnir through his snout.

The wolf went rigid. Shock and pain infiltrated his system. Stunned, Garmr stepped back, swinging his head, hoping to tear the spear from his muzzle. The beast's strength and mass was such that I was thrown into the air.

My hands tightened on Gungnir's shaft until my knuckles went white.

Garmr thrashed again, flinging me to the right. My weight was too great. My spear ripped from the wolf's mouth. I twisted in mid-flight and landed, feet first, against an alley wall. Muscles bulged in my legs. I exploded forward, flinging myself at the beast.

_Chshunk!_

Garmr faded back, vanishing through an alley wall. Gungnir pierced stone then stuck. Unburdened by such mortal limits, the great wolf surged back out. His monstrous jaw flowed over me.

I abandoned my spear. Garmr's maw snapped closed. Dagger like teeth caught the fragile ribbons fluttering on my dress. My heels gripped pavement. With my right hand, I pulled back. A rope of twined threads went taught. Gungnir was wrenched from the wall. The spear twisted as it flew. Its law took hold. With an aerial slash, Gungnir cut a chunk from Garmr's neck before returning to my hand.

The great beast danced back. A deep throated growl made the alley rumble. With huge golden eyes, Garmr glared his hatred.

Except for a handful of minions, we were alone. During our exchange of blows, the wrecking crew had escaped the alley. Cologne led a magnificent charge into the heart of the Institute's assault force. Three score wolves nipped at their heels. The ravenous specters served as an auxiliary force. In one smooth move, the old woman had turned a difficult battle into a three way free for all.

Garmr pawed his muzzle. A ghastly wound was cut through bottom and top. Flesh wiggled under his touch. Skin reconnected to skin. Bone reformed. Garmr's regeneration was sluggish. In our prior battle, wounds thrice as vicious had faded in mere seconds.

My eyes narrowed. A careful glance showed me Garmr's minions. Defeated animals were strewn upon the ground. With pathetic whimpers, they trembled at the edge of death.

A smirk spread across my face. Suddenly, I had more than false bravado.

"What's wrong?" I asked teasingly. "Get hit by something you didn't like?"

"I had forgotten the bite of Gungnir's steel," Garmr admitted.

The beast shook his crimson coat. A strange glint filled his golden eyes. "Pain. Fear. Danger. Ah, at last, true battle." Garmr's lips peeled back in ferocious delight. "I was right to court a maiden of death. Come at me, witch! Show me my doom!"

Garmr vanished to my left. With his great maw, he scooped up three servitors then dived through an alley wall. A wave of minions struck. The spectral wolves lunged at targets high and low.

My left hand moved for the rim of my glasses. At the same time, I drew Gungnir in a one handed slash. The spear's law made the impossible possible. My swing was careless. Gungnir transformed it into slaughter. The spear snaked through the air, rising and diving in a deadly wave. The broad leaf blade beheaded six wolves in a single stroke.

Aura mode activated. Garmr burst from the third story of the alley. White fire licked the edge of his lips. The beast regurgitated an armory of weapons.

_C-clang!_

Gungnir became a swirling wall deflecting spectral steel. When used as a shield, the spear's magic was inert. Knives and arrows pierced my guard, cutting my dress and slicing my skin. Shuken, already weakened by Garmr's bite, dissolved into motes of pink light. A rapier slipped through. The slim blade buried itself between my ribs.

I gasped and stumbled back.

The searing pain blinded me. Another wave of wolves piled on. With sharp teeth they sought cloth and flesh. I snatched a specter from the air and threw myself into a tight roll. The hungry jaws closed short.

"Tenshi Ittou!"

A circle of haigeki ripped through the throng. Minions turned to silver fire. The mists quickly coalesced. Those untouched by Gungnir's steel would be reborn.

The clasped wolf struggled in my grip. I willed its destruction. Magic surged through my arm. Thick threads shot from my dress, each burning bright with pink light. The parasitic power pierced ghostly flesh. The threads burrowed deep. Like worms, they devoured as they went.

The wolf succumbed to my magic. Its silver hue faded into pink. Muscle, bone, and tissue rotted away. A mushy blob of spiritual matter bulged within my hand. My threads drank the slushy mess as though they were straws.

Rivers of ice ran through my veins. I stumbled. Shuken sputtered then flared anew. My aura sang with the power I had consumed.

Garmr surged from the ground at my feet.

He caught naught but air.

Thanks to my glasses, I had seen the red shadow sprinting through the earth. Garmr's ambush backfired. At the last second, I danced to the side and slashed with Gungnir. The spear's blade ripped through Garmr's belly.

The wolf howled and drew back. The beast climbed higher before looping to face me.

I dropped into a ready stance and winced. The movement of my ribs aggravated my injury. My restored shuken would need more time to seal the wound cut through my chest.

Garmr and I glared at each other. With slow motions, I adjusted my profile. The wolf's altitude forbade my attack. I awaited his charge.

_Screeeeeeee!_

The wail of Michiko's cannons ended my plot. Twin beams sliced through our position. I slipped to the side, evading by mere centimeters. Garmr was too slow. The searing light caught him in the chest. The wolf's misty flesh boiled with the wrath of a thousand suns.

Garmr's head snapped back. The wolf seethed with anger. "Worthless monkeys, you dare interrupt my trial?" he roared. "I will crush you between my teeth."

Garmr kicked off air. The beast surged into the sky. The battleship, upon seeing Garmr's ire, fled to greater heights. The crew opened fire. The barrage of magic stripped Garmr to the bone. The beast howled his fury. Garmr twisted through the air. Mystic shots flew wide.

"Tenshi osakebi."

A lance of pink burst from Gungnir's tip. Haigeki flayed Garmr's hind. The beast paid me no mind. His chase continued, spiraling to ever greater heights.

"Shit!" I cursed in frustration.

Unable to pursue, I took in my surroundings.

The battlefield was chaos. Spectral wolves fought and died only to be reborn. The minions ripped through shikigami, tearing demons down with their immortal strength. Packs hounded divided units of magical girls, leaving the Institute's troops quivering in terror.

Akina's voice pierced the din. With sharp commands she strove to add structure to anarchy. A new wave of shikigami marched from the Institute's base. It was a desperate bid to suppress the numerous foes. A few straggling girls answered her call, fleeing into the last bastion of defense – the shattered bar where the battle had started.

In the middle of the madness, Akane and Ukyou dueled.

My fiancées scattered interloping minions while trading fire at medium range. Ukyou threw waves of spatulas and shot spears of light. A storm of lasers and steel tore at Akane. She crashed through them like an unstoppable juggernaut. In return, Akane lobbed a hundred hammers. The palm sized toys fell upon Ukyou in an endless shower.

_P-p-piko! B-b-boom!_ Each cute noise was followed by a thunderous crash. Where the hammers hit, asphalt caved. It was as though an invisible giant was systematically smashing all the places the soft, plastic ends touched.

I pulled my eyes away and found the ancient matriarch. With wide swings, I swept demons and ghosts from my path. I advanced, repeatedly glancing at the sky. Michiko and Garmr continued their aerial waltz.

"Cologne," I called.

The squat gnome caught an oni's club with her staff. With a twist, she sent the demon flying. The shikigami landed amongst a crowd of wolves. The ravenous beasts ripped it apart.

"Son-in-law," Cologne croaked in return. She gave a light grunt as she destroyed another opponent. "Why are you here? Were you not intending to deal with that beast?"

"I was," I grumbled. "But the stupid mutt got distracted. There is nothing I can do about Garmr now. I will have to wait until he comes back down."

Cologne pogoed back. I unleashed my frustration upon the minions, buying time so that she could recover her breath.

"Oh? Were those not wings I saw before?"

With a sharp thrust, I shoved Gungnir through a ghostly wolf. The specter whined in agony. I whipped the blade to the side, flinging the twice dead thing down a narrowed street.

"They are not functional," I answered. "I can glide pretty well when using them. But, without a good bit of height or a lot of speed, I am not going any-" My words froze. My head jerked to the side. "Ucchan don't!"

My cry came too late.

At the edge of my vision, I caught the chef's mistake. The girls fought in melee. Ukyou had the upper hand. With her superior skill, Ukyou dominated the fight. Akane was being driven back. Only by willfully taking blows, did the mallet wielding girl gain enough time to swing her colossal hammer. The attack was telegraphed. Ukyou should have dodged. Instead, she fell back on habit.

_Piko_.

For an instant, Ukyou's spatula held steady. Then, in a blink, she was flung across the street. _Crash!_ A hundred meters away, a third story window shattered. Hidden from sight, the magical chef continued her tumble within.

"That girl's weapon is deceptively dangerous," Cologne said, her eyes narrowed. "Son-in-law, best we deal with her now, lest our enemies use her to scatter our forces."

"That will have to wait," I said, setting a hand on the old woman's shoulder. A slow smile formed. "I just had an idea."

"Oh-ho-ho," Cologne chuckled. The old woman gave a wry grin. "Then by all means, son-in-law, don't let an old lady get in your way."

I flashed the matriarch a grin, then dashed toward Akane. Cologne moved in tandem, swinging wide to cutoff the Institute's support. With a gesture, she drew the Joketsuzoku warriors to her side.

Cologne's position was precarious. She stood in the open street, shielded by nothing but the bodies of the shikigami. For now, it was safe enough. The Institute was too disorganized to muster an assault. But if I wasted too much time, Akina would counter attack.

But that was Cologne's problem. The ancient matriarch had an excellent tactical sense. I trusted that she would see things done correctly.

My opponent was Akane.

My fiancée wore a plastic dress. Armored plates embellished her bright blue garment. Two bundles of toy hammers hung from her waist. The outfit was cute but childish.

"I see you dumped your tiara," I said, flashing a smile. "Congrats on the promotion. That makes you what? Disposable unit 0280?"

Akane struck with her giant hammer. I hopped back, evading the plastic end by centimeters. An instant later, I dodged again. The speed of Akane's backslash was frightening. She wielded her colossal weapon as though it weighted no more than a feather.

"I am a cavalier of the Pretty Princess Institute, appointed by the Director herself," Akane declared, proudly. "A rank I _earned_ with hard work and loyalty. Try and be grateful for my sake, Ranma."

"Now, now, Akane," I tutted in a ladylike voice. "I am to be addressed as Saotome-_hime_."

Akane's mallet crashed down. Nimbly, I stepped to the side. _Piko-BOOM!_ The ground shattered at my feet. The quaking earth shifted my balance. Shuken kicked in. Elegantly, I swayed to the side of my enemy.

"I refuse to call you senshi, traitor," Akane accused. "You spat on the Institute. You turned your back on the Director. Now you think you can waltz in and reclaim everything?"

"You speak beyond your station, cavalier." I snapped.

Akane retorted with a wild swing. I stepped in close, sliding beneath her stroke. I whirled about my fiancée, casually cavorting well within her reach. Girlish ribbons fluttered in my wake. The soft streamers of white and black taunted Akane with light kisses.

"Oh. I see. You are jealous," I giggled teasingly. "I hate to break it to you, Akane, but you are simply not senshi material. Even if we gave you a crown, a gorilla can never be a princess."

"A princess? You aren't even a girl!" Akane roared.

With berserker strength, the girl swung her weapon in a rising arc.

Finally.

Instead of evading this attack, I threw myself onto it. _Pi-!_ Cushy, red plastic shrank beneath my feet. The hammer kicked. Impulse exploded through my legs and spine. My knees folded. Blood rushed to my ankles. -_Ko!_ I shot into the sky as though fired from a gun.

Buildings became streaks. Windows blurred into solid matter. Roofs appeared beneath me, then shrank into distant rectangles. With my eyes aimed down, I watched Shampoo intercept Akane. A moment later, Konatsu emerged from a smoky haze at my fiancée's back. Double teamed by a Joketsuzoku warrior and a kunoichi, Akane lasted mere seconds.

I turned my eyes to the sky.

Wind roared around me. The heavy gust tussled the loose ends of my dress. Wings of ribbon sprang from my back, stabilizing my ascent. Two hundred meters. Three hundred meters. I arched through Tokyo's skyline, a missile tracking the ghostly wolf Garmr.

The beast saw me not. Garmr's eyes were fixed upon his prey. With great glee, he pounced. His jaws closed on Michiko's battleship, only to freeze when they hit an invisible sphere.

Gungnir bit flesh.

The spear pierced spine and belly. My momentum did not slow. I flashed over Garmr's back, dragging the haft of my weapon as I went. The wolf's center contorted. His torso was rotated ninety degrees from back and front.

Garmr's roar shattered my ear drums.

The beast thrashed. The spectral shield protecting Michiko's battleship shattered. Yellowed teeth cut through a fragment of wing then tore out a ragged strip. The flailing wolf threw me way. Gungnir ripped from the ghastly wound with a sickening pop. Ghostly intestines were twined around the shaft.

Before I could fall, I formed a kite. A stiff breeze offered a moment of suspension.

"Trying to run from our fight?" I accused.

Garmr stilled. Furious, golden eyes focused on me.

"Witch," Garmr spat. His lips peeled back. A low rumble escaped his throat. The growl became a booming laugh. "What lust for battle. You ascended to this height to fight with me? It is a pity I must disappoint. As much as I would love to rend you limb from limb, these maggots must die first."

I gathered haigeki. Pink light poured into Gungnir. "Your fight is with me, Garmr. I will not allow you escape."

"Foolish witch. You think to stop me here? I would like to see you try!"

With a roar, Garmr charged. His padded feet pushed off the wind, flinging his great mass at me. I moved to counter. Garmr was faster. In an instant, the beast was upon me. Caught in midair with limited velocity, all I could do was endure. With Gungnir held crosswise, I shielded myself from the wolf.

Garmr grabbed the spear's haft with his teeth.

The beast jerked left then right. I flopped to either side, my arms straining. I refused to relinquish my weapon. Garmr and I both knew the value of Gungnir. The spear was the only tool I had that could hurt the beast. Without it, I would be helpless.

The wrestling match continued. While Garmr shook me to and fro, I poured my magic into Gungnir's haft. Pink light grew in intensity. Sparks of haigeki cascaded through the metal pole. Where Gungnir touched, Garmr's gums began to burn.

Garmr growled with rage. He shook his head thrice more, then dived. The beast fell toward the earth in thunderbolt. We slammed into the roof of the tallest tower. Concrete buckled at my back, driving the air from my lungs and darkening my vision.

The wolf became mist.

I crashed into the ground of the next level. Tile shattered beneath me. A frigid silver flame flowed over my body. Garmr's mist slipped through solid matter then vanished from sight. Dazed, I gulped a lung full of dusty air and threw myself to my feet.

Not a second too soon. Garmr's maw tore through the floor. Rock, stone, and rebar were crushed between the beast's teeth. I slashed with my spear. The wolf arched his belly, evading with a speed that belied his size. I cut nor more than a hair's width.

With quick steps, Garmr padded back.

"Witch, allow me to offer this petty entertainment. Amuse yourself as you wish, while I devour the moon queen's pitiful army," Garmr said.

Garmr lowered his head and vomited a ghostly mass. A puddle of putrid matter splattered on the floor. Rubbery limbs stretched from the pool, forming feminine arms, heads, and torsos.

Three shades stood before me.

The first was a pretty girl wearing a sequined dress and bladed shoes. Fist sized holes were punched through her chest, the markings of Garmr's bite. At the skater's side was an athletic woman dressed in a school swimsuit. Coils of spectral water rolled around her in the form of serpents. Last was the archer. My eyes fixed upon her crooked neck. A bone bulged from beneath translucent skin.

My stomach twisted.

I had killed her. The memory popped into my head. The archer leaned upon her bow, exhausted. I rose over the roof and planted my feet in her gut. Down, she had plummeted. What had she felt in those final moments? Had tenki failed her at the last instant, sparing her the knowledge of looming death? Or had the magic fled at an earlier point, leaving seconds of terror as the concrete came ever closer?

With a soft laugh, Garmr sank into stone. Fool. I had no time for guilt. Garmr was my prey. If I let him escape there would be more than one death tainting my hands.

The shades advanced. The skater and swimmer took the lead while the archer fell back and drew her bow. That was all I allowed them. Diving forward, I hefted Gungnir. With a ruthless swing, I aimed to cut them down.

Then froze.

These were not the ghosts of beasts. These were people. The shades before me should have been standing at the edge of the Sanzu River, ready to join their ancestors. If I cut these ghosts with Gungnir, what would happen? Would their souls be gone forever more? Would they bear the hideous wounds for eternity? Would Gungnir set them free?

I did not know.

I had no experience to draw upon. I was not versed in legends and lore. I did not know how it was that Gungnir cut spectral flesh.

The shades attacked during my weakness. The skater slid forward. She flowed into an elegant whirl, her bladed shoes sweeping out in a multitude of kicks. The swimmer took my flank. Serpents of water struck with liquid fangs. The archer loosed her bow.

I dodged. My confused heart had stifled my offense, but did nothing to slow my defense. Effortlessly, I slipped through the skater's kicks. With the flash of my spear, I slaughtered both serpents. I slapped the arrow from the air.

Then hesitation was gone. If I could not use Gungnir's blade, I had its haft. With brutal force, I crushed all three shades, spectral bones snapping like twigs.

The broken spirits lit with silver fire. Before they could be reborn, I threw myself from a window.

I sailed over a side street and landed atop of a five story building. I spotted the great wolf before I touched down. The beast jumped from roof to roof, a single building ahead. I tore after him, pressing my legs to their limit. With giant leaps, I ran atop Tokyo's skyline in pursuit.

Garmr held his lead. The wolf was not limited by gravity, yet he chose to observe that mortal limit. In his backward glance, I saw delight. He offered a lupine smile. Then, in a single bound, he cleared twenty meters of space.

The sky lit on fire

Streams of magic exploded from the nearest roof. Bloody fur and spectral flesh were stripped bare by the ferocious power. Garmr's laughter boomed. The beast flew forward.

I hurried my pace.

The next building was fifteen meters taller than the last. That height, when combined with distance, was too great. But luck was with me. Michiko had left a stepping stone. Her battleship.

The aluminum craft had crashed into the building's wall. Now it protruded from the fifth floor, its nose penetrating a meter of concrete. The crew had abandoned ship. The final member was being hoisted onto the roof with the helping hand of a samurai girl.

I jumped. A stiletto heel touched the aluminum surface. I pushed off, adding six meters to my height. I sailed over the girls and landed on the building's summit.

Garmr was embroiled in battle. A cowgirl perforated his hide with the rapid fire of her six shooters. Starry explosions marked her hits, splatting ghostly blood. A whip of fire entangled his feet, causing a moment's pause. A brilliant beam cut through the beast's shoulder, boiling silver mist.

To the immortal Garmr, those wounds were no more than inconveniences. The wolf zigged and zagged as he charged the group. The erratic movements evaded a full half of the relentless assault. With a snap, he seized the ballerina then swallowed her whole.

I threw Gungnir. My spear pierced the wolf's throat.

The ballerina caught on the shaft of my spear, barely visible through the haze of ghostly flesh. I snagged the end of my weapon and threw my weight against it. The lever refused to budge. With monstrous strength, Garmr twisted, sending me skittering back.

With a glower, the wolf faced me.

"Witch," he rumbled. With that word, he jumped.

Garmr went high. I went low. The beast's muzzle reached down. _Crunch_. Giant teeth pierced my shadow. Shuken fractured in a shower of light.

I forced the fragments still.

With my left hand, I gripped Gungnir, my fingers centimeters from the blade. I held fast, digging my heels into the roof's surface. I consumed the remnant fantasy and made my will real. For an instant, I out massed Garmr a million to one. The wolf's momentum met my immovable force. Garmr came to a sudden stop. The beast's back bucked high. His mouth gaped with pain.

I ripped Gungnir from his neck, causing the ballerina to fall free.

Garmr's jaws snapped shut, catching her between his teeth.

Red splatted upon concrete. The ballerina's body jerked, her limbs flailing. Blood gurgled from her lips. Rage consumed me. I stepped in close and shoved my hand into the hole Gungnir had cut. With all my fury, I rejected his existence.

"Tenshi osakebi!"

Pink exploded. Garmr's jaw was blown clear off. A plume of spectral chunks rained down. The ghostly matter evaporated into silver fire. The ballerina hit the ground like a wet sack. Her bubbling gasp brought strange relief.

Garmr jumped back and landed at the roof's edge. The wolf's face was a bonfire. Garmr's incredible regeneration rebuilt the missing jaw in seconds. The wolf worked his mandible a few times before releasing a throaty rumble.

"Twice you have interfered, witch," Garmr accused. "What dives you to defend these worms? Compassion? Empathy? Such feelings are unworthy of you, spear bearer. Rape. Murder. Plunder. The strong should trample the weak. That is justice of the victor. Tell me, why do you spare these mongrels when their corpses serve your will as well as mine?"

"Corpses do a shitty job of serving, Garmr."

I rolled my shoulders, loosening stiff muscles. By silent consensus, we stopped our fight. It was a natural pause. The tick of time advantaged us both. With each passing second, my aura recovered. With it came the invincible cloak of shuken. Garmr healed. His amputated jaw was already restored, but the wound through his throat required a longer period of recovery.

The Institute made use of our respite. The battleship's crew stilled their panic. Two brave girls slipped in between us, dragging the ballerina away. The cowgirl knelt at her friend's side, her hands pressed upon the giant wounds. The remainder stood guard, ready to defend their fallen comrade.

It was an impossible wish. The ballerina's wounds were fatal. But these were magical girls. Miracles were part and parcel to their nature. Just by breathing, they rejected truth and imposed illusion. The cowgirl's spirit was strong. Her wish was potent. Her shuken fused with that of the ballerina, imposing life where there should have been death.

The bleeding slowed.

My dread did not ease. Reality would win in the end. The fantasy would fall. When it did, the ballerina's fate would decided. For good or for ill. Nothing could change that.

My eyes returned to Garmr.

"So yours is the will of the conquerer," Garmr mused. The beast prowled to the side. "A worthy title for the bearer of Gungnir. But the warrior's right is written blood, witch. Do not think you can rule through mercy. If the land is not fed the flesh of your enemy, your kingdom will fall barren and desiccated."

I strolled with Garmr, circling the beast. The battleship's crew backed away. The girls trembled at our presence, ants caught between titans. Only Michiko was unmoved. Her steel blue eyes were sharp as knives.

"What worth is a castle if no stones are standing?" I retorted. "I cannot build a kingdom by murdering my subjects. These girls are the Institute. Without them, I would be conquerer of nothing."

"They are unbroken, witch. They defy you. They seek to shatter your spirit and weaken your will. If you do not feast upon them, they will feast upon you," Garmr countered. "Grind them into the earth. Break their bones. Crush their hearts. Only when they quiver at your every breath can you be called queen."

"Candidate Saotome has already negotiated her position," Michiko interrupted. "The terms are set. Excess casualties are both unnecessary and inefficient."

"Diplomacy," Garmr spat. "A weakling's tactic and ruler's duty. Tell me, witch, do you dream of a bloodless war? Will the false goddess go unhindered?"

"I am not so naive, Garmr," I proclaimed. "No war is without consequence. As for Artemis. She dies. For her, I will allow no other outcome."

"Finally, the eyes of a killer," Garmr rumbled. "But I shall not fight as you wish, witch. I am Garmr, son of Fenrir. Death and slaughter are my nature. I will feast upon the weak. I will strew their bones across this land. Unless cowed by your fearsome strength, I will devour all that you hold dear."

"No, you will not," I declared. Faint light rippled around me, pink was tinted by malice. Thin fibers spread from my dress. Like tiny fingers, they stretched toward the beast, eager to eat his soul. "Because I am going to kill you, Garmr. And, this time, I will make sure you never come back."

"Mere words will not make me tremble, witch. Your flesh yields to my teeth. Your steel breaks upon my skin," Garmr retorted. "If you want me to bow, show to me that your threats are backed by more than conceit."

The wolf lunged. Great jaws spread wide. I flashed to the side, drawing Gungnir in a lightning cut. With deceptive speed, Garmr swerved out of range. But spear's law was not so easily escaped. The blade cut his shoulder, slicing a finger's width of meat.

Garmr surged again. But not at me.

In a blink, I realized my error. By then, it was too late. In the time it took to draw a breath, Garmr passed by my side and plowed through the loose squad of magical girls. The great wolf stopped at the building's edge and glared back.

"Come, witch," Garmr taunted with his booming voice. "Try and stop my festival of blood."

The wolf dropped into the streets below. I took his challenge. With a furious dash, I crossed half the roof in a handful of steps. Before I could dive, a voice interrupted.

"Candidate Saotome."

My heels slammed into concrete. I slid to a stop. The parapet loomed one step away. My eyes flashed back, offering the scientist a seething glare. "Save it, Michiko. I don't have time for interruptions."

Michiko approached, her chrome cannon hanging loose in her arms. With tranquil poise, the blond adjusted her glasses. A light wind brushed her lab coat, causing it to flutter.

"I concur," Michiko agreed. "It would be a grave error to ignore Garmr's presence. His existence complicates the battlefield. The resulting increase in casualties serves neither of our interests. If left unchecked, his ability to resurrect the fallen could prove catastrophic."

"All the more reason to not waste time," I shot back. "Garmr is going down. Now." I turned away and prepared to jump.

"Your approach is flawed, Candidate Saotome." Michiko's voice was sharp. "If you are to achieve victory, you must revise your tactics."

I stopped. A fierce scowl crossed my lips. I forced myself still. Damn it. Michiko was right. Garmr's regeneration was insurmountable. Even Gungnir's wounds healed with time. Mortal blows did not slow the beast. Pain was all that I could wreak upon Garmr.

There was an alternative path. I had killed Garmr before. But it was foolishness to dream of making him swallow a second tenkui ryu.

"I am listening," I relented.

I stepped away from the ledge and faced Michiko. The battleship's crew stiffened at my approach. I pointed Gungnir at the samurai girl, causing her to jump. My spear quickly swept across the rest, leaving the cowgirl and ballerina untouched.

"But first, you ladies better get your asses moving," I said, glaring at the group. "Last I checked, there were bodies scattered all over the field. Find them, pick them up, and drag them somewhere safe. And do it quick. Preferably before Garmr rips out the throats of your friends."

The crew gulped. Ashen faces turned toward Michiko, seeking her approval.

Michiko answered with a sharp nod. "You will do as Candidate Saotome ordered. Your primary mission is to secure all casualties. You are to refrain from combat, unless unavoidable. If cornered by Saotome's forces, you will promptly surrender, explain your orders, and request permission to resume. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Nishimura-sensei," half a dozen voices echoed. They faced me. "Saotome-sama."

The crew curtsied twice then rushed away. They crowded into the roof's access and ran down the stairs. I frowned at the sight. The building was six stories tall. Was that too much for them? Then what of those who had fallen from greater heights?

I grimaced. Feeling sick, I turned my eyes to the field.

The fighting had slowed to crawl.

Akina's army was hunkered down in their base. Dozens of girls were laid out on stretchers. Six silver towers had sprung from bar's ruins. The turrets bathed minions in baleful beams. A pitiful century of shikigami served as a curtain defense. The depleted demons could not be replenished. For every oni the machine created, another faded away, its life ended by the hands of time.

The wrecking crew refused the siege. Instead, Shampoo and Mousse fortified a thin alley forty meters away. Thick concrete blocks offered shelter against the Institute's ranged attacks. The remainder rested. Cologne stood watch. From time to time, the matriarch's eyes sought out Garmr.

The beast was hidden beneath the earth. There he prowled, a predator stalking his prey. Wolf minion's gathered around him, moving through the darkened spaces as they encircled the wrecking crew. Four human shades were amongst them. The resurrected dead made Garmr's approach all the more deadly.

Instead of fear, I felt relief. Cologne was tougher than old leather. Garmr would have to chew for a long time before swallowing her. The wrecking crew could handle his minions. There was plenty of time to plan things out.

"So tell me. How do I end the mutt?" I demanded.

"Garmr is a Terran spirit," Michiko began. "He existence is akin to a concept. The physical presence with which we are familiar is a manifestation. Striking that manifestation evokes no harm to the greater whole."

My eyes narrowed. "Wait. You are not telling me Garmr is immortal, are you?"

"Uncertain," Michiko replied. "The word 'immortal' has ambiguous meaning. 'Immortal' can be used to imply nothing more than a resilience to temporal degradation. Conversely, 'immortal' may designate an immunity to death. In a strict sense, the latter state is an impossibility. All things are finite. The second law cannot be defied.

"Applying the phrase 'immortal' to Garmr yields additional complications. However, if we limit this discussion to Garmr's manifestation, then yes, 'immortal' – in its most perfect form – is a relatively accurate descriptor."

I scowled. Garmr had perfect immortality. No. Michiko had said it herself, perfect immortality was an impossibility. But that did not improve my position. The sun was also mortal. Given a few billion years, it would die.

Was Garmr's immortality akin to the sun's? Was the wolf impossibly difficult to kill? Or did Garmr possess a vulnerability? I had seen the beast defeated. I had shoved a tornado down his throat. My tenkui ryu would have killed the immortal Saffron a dozen times over. Given the nature of my magic, I doubted that the phoenix would have resurrected from that.

But Garmr lived. Not a scratch remained to mark my victory.

Immortal. I had seen it myself. I had said it myself. Still, I did not want to accept the possibility.

"You said my current approach will not work. Does that mean I have to seal him? Or is there a way to kill Garmr?"

"Garmr can be killed," Michiko clarified. "Garmr is a conceptual existence. He can be modeled as two independent entities, Garmr positive and Garmr negative. Garmr negative is the discrete manifestation. It is semi-physical in nature. It can be harmed by conventional attacks. This existence, however, is immortal. All attempts to kill or seal Garmr negative will meet with failure. Temporary dissolution is the only viable result.

"Garmr positive is a self propagating wave. He is a concept omnipresent within the spiritual field of Terra. This existence is, in relative terms, mortal. If the intent is Garmr's death, it is this portion of Garmr's existence that must be targeted."

Positive? Negative? Wave? Discrete? My head span. Michiko talked theory. I needed practice. What did this mean to _me_?

I closed my eyes in frustration. "Can you be less academic?"

Michiko quirked her head. After a moment, she extended an arm. "Garmr negative is this."

I stared. Then it clicked. Garmr was a limb. The ghost was not an independent, living being, but rather a fragment of a greater whole. Suddenly, Garmr's immortality made sense. If my arm broke, I would not die. If my limb were torn to shreds, I would walk on. Gungnir, for all its power, was bound by this equation. If Garmr was only a piece of a whole, then the best I could hope for was death by blood loss.

Except, Garmr was not human. He possessed a formidable regeneration. His wounds recovered in the blink of an eye. No. It was greater than that. Garmr was a being that could cast aside an entire arm then grow a new one in a few short days.

It was impossible to kill Garmr through violence. His immortality was perfect. But, that did not mean that the beast could not be killed. If strength would not suffice, I had cunning.

"Poison," I concluded.

Michiko cocked her head second time. After a moment, she nodded. "Effective."

I scowled in response. "No, it is not."

Poison. On the surface it made sense. If Garmr was a limb, then by injecting poison, I could reach the beast's heart. The plan was simple and straight forward.

But there was a flaw. Unwittingly, I had tried it before. My magic was akin to a plague. My threads were designed to transform. They tunneled through the soul of their victim. They feasted upon the spiritual matter. They replicated, increasing in number.

And Garmr had survived my plague. The dose I had delivered was beyond duplication.

"Negative," Michiko disagreed. "Your strategy is sound. Theory is clear. Fundamentally, there are three methods to achieve Garmr's death. The most direct is to remove the medium of Garmr's existence. This can be achieved by extinguishing the spiritual field exuded by Terra."

"Kill the planet." I snorted. "A horrible idea."

"And impractical," Michiko added. "The second approach is to force full manifestation. That is to coerce Garmr into actualizing the entirety of his existence as Garmr negative. This would make Garmr a true discrete entity, and thus vulnerable to conventional tactics."

"Ah!" I said, grasping it instantly. "Basically, instead of fighting Garmr's arm, I fight the body. I like it."

"Unworkable," Michiko reproved, shaking her head. "The approach is sound but the numeric requirements are exorbitant. To force spiritual condensation, we would need an arcane force approximately seventy-three times your capacity. Amplification of shuken is possible, but constructing the necessary machines would take an excessive period of time."

I grimaced. "And that last was poison."

"Insufficient. The last is direct assault. Garmr positive is an informational being. There are numerous ways of harming such an entity. Poison is mere a means."

I shook my head. "But poison will not work. I tried it already. When I fought Garmr a few days ago, I stuffed him full of my threads. If that did not kill him, nothing will."

Michiko nodded and pondered my data. "Logic is clear. Poison is viable," she concluded. "If the error was not one of dosage, then it must be one of delivery. The poison must afflict Garmr positive, or no damage will be dealt."

Michiko offered a plausible explanation. A poison, no matter how potent, would not kill if it did not reach the heart. That was the most basic of the basics. When bitten by a snake, the first action was to still oneself. Lower the victim's heart rate and the venom's progression will slow. If enough time was bought, the patient would survive.

In Garmr's case, the wolf could amputate the infected limb.

But could I pull it off? If I stretched Michiko's analogy, the goal would be to find a vein. Inject my threads there and they would quickly reach the heart. But Garmr was not a living being. If he were, he would already be dead. The dose I had delivered was astronomical. If the Garmr had veins, surely some of my poison would have reached his heart.

That left but one conclusion. Garmr had no such flow.

No. I was wrong. A flow between positive and negative definitely existed.

Rather than a limb, Garmr was closer to a shikigami. Energy would flow into his ghostly manifestation at the moment of creation. Additional surges would occur when his wounds regenerated or his greater magics were evoked.

But those were outflows. Arteries when I needed veins. So, when did Garmr draw power in?

_Crack!_

Thunder aborted my thoughts.

My eyes snapped open, flitting to the battlefield. Mousse fell. An invisible spear stabbed through his gut, leaving behind a bloody hole. The wrecking crew reacted with shock. Ukyou jumped over the wounded warrior, smashing an opportunistic wolf. Shampoo pulled back into the shadows, her gaze sweeping the streets, searching for the hidden attacker.

Only Cologne was missing from the alerted group. The matriarch fought Garmr.

It was a battle between gnome and giant. The ancient woman moved with lightning speed. With well timed steps, she floated in and out, smashing Garmr with her gnarled staff. Ki flared with every blow, shattering bone and pulverizing flesh.

Garmr laughed with delight. The beast took the matriarch's punishment and came back for more. Without Gungnir, Cologne's blows were fleeting. The old woman knew it. Her strikes sent Garmr flying. Her goal was to drag the battle out rather than to destroy the beast.

_Crack!_ Thunder rang again. Sparks burst from Konatsu's wakazashi. Without so much as a glance, the Kunoichi shielded Shampoo from the invisible attack.

I deduced the weapon's nature. The Institute had a sniper.

"Shit," I growled, reaching for the rim of my glasses. "We are out of time." I gave the scientist a final look. "Michiko, can I ask a favor?"

"So long as your request does not interfere with my established duties, I will provide any assistance you require," Michiko responded.

"I appreciate it," I said, wearing a weak smile. I took a deep breath. "I need you to distract Garmr. Not now. I will let you know when. Can you do it?"

"Affirmative."

"Be safe," I said softly.

"I will take the necessary precautions," Michiko answered. Her steel blue eyes focused on mine. "Do you have a plan?"

"Who do you think you are talking to?"

I flashed a smirk and catapulted from the building.

Cloth wings unfolded when I reached the peak of my jump. I glided thirty meters above the battlefield. All roofs were visible save one, that of the highest tower. With a light tap, I cycled aura mode on. A violet shape was brought in sharp relief. I had located the sniper.

The Institute's sniper squatted on a lower roof, her long rifle set upon a short parapet. With sharp eyes she peered through iron sights, selecting her target.

_Crack!_

The gun jerked, a line of fire exploding from the muzzle. The projectile was deflected by the steel surface of Ukyou's spatula.

Shuken was cruel to ambush tactics. It guaranteed invincibility until the aura failed. A single strike, no matter how potent, would not pierce the shroud unless the sniper was backed by superior spiritual strength. Clearly, the rifle wielding girl understood that dynamic, which was why she unerringly aimed at those bereft of shuken.

But shuken was more than a personal shield. It was a presence, a dominion. Like a cloak, it could draped over others. Konatsu and Ukyou lent their aura to Shampoo. The girls took turns, switching off so that their magic would not be strained by multiple shoots.

The sniper was already neutered.

But I would not allow another attack. Flicking aura mode off, I dived.

Huh? The sniper vanished from sight. Brief confusion was followed by understanding. Invisibility. That was why the wrecking crew had failed to spot her. No matter. Gungnir would not be denied.

I threw my spear. Gungnir crossed the last dozen meters to pierced nothingness. A spray of blood indicated my hit. I touched concrete. With both hands, I seized Gungnir's shaft, hauled the sniper into the air, then slammed her against the ground.

The girl let out a blood curdling scream. The damage proved too great. Shuken unraveled. Invisibility vanished. Trembling, the girl clutched her wound with her left hand, a stain of red spreading through her yellow dress. With desperate motions, the sniper fumbled for her gun.

I set Gungnir against her neck and shook my head in warning.

The sniper gulped and released her weapon.

I walked away. I had no fear of showing my back. Her morale was broken. Her wound would consume her attention. Even if she were foolish enough to fire, shuken would cover my error. Instead, I scanned the side streets, hunting a different kind of prey.

Nothing. Nothing. More Nothing. A short hop put me on the next building. My eyes stilled. Target acquired.

Three spectral wolves pursued Carrotcake. The girl ran, her hands flopping in ineffectual terror. The flight was pointless. Carrotcake, though supernaturally enhanced, was human. The four legged canines were far faster. The wolves ran her down in seconds. The minions lunged, targeting calves and back.

"Eeeaaa!" Carrotcake tripped. The girl planted her face firmly in the ground. The absurd mistake saved her life. The wolves missed. A pair flew too high. The last slammed its muzzle into her spiked heel. The creature tumbled into a garbage can.

Carrotcake rolled to her feet. The wolves attacked again. Eyes closed and hands shaking, Carrotcake returned fire. Her aim was true. A burst of carrots obliterated the closest pursuer.

Her luck came to an end. Two of wolves made it through. The first pounced. The minion's jaws caught her wrist. Teeth shredded pale flesh. The specter's weight dragged the limb down. The second wolf seized the opening, targeting Carrotcake's throat.

My spear tore it in half.

I landed at Carrotcake's side. With a casual slash, I beheaded the minion attached to her arm. A burst of silver fire signaled the third's rebirth. Before it could so much as move, I dropped low and cut all four legs out from underneath it. The crippled minion hit the ground. Limbless, it whined and whimpered.

"Eh? I'm alive?" Carrotcake asked. "I thought I was a goner for sure."

I quirked a smile. "You're welcome."

The brown and orange dressed girl looked up. Carrotcake's eyes widened when she saw whom she was talking to. "E-e-eeaaa! S-saotome-sama, please don't kill me."

Carrotcake's arms flopped in wild fear. The attached wolf head wobbled on her wrist. I chuckled at the sight. If Carrotcake had any wits at all, she would have realized I was not here to kill her. If that were my plan, she would be dead already.

"Stand still," I ordered.

Carrotcake froze. I grabbed her wrist with my left hand and the ghost's crown with my right. The beheaded beast growled at my touch. I glared. Pink threads formed at the cuff of my dress. Strands of twine plunged into specter's skull. The worms burrowed through flesh. With a slurp, they consumed the spiritual mass.

I shivered.

The minion's magic was cold and clammy. I felt as though I had eaten rotten meat. I swallowed my sickness then dealt with the wolf impaled upon my spear. The queasiness increased. Eating these specters was dangerous, but the extra ki was sorely needed.

I glanced at Carrotcake. The girl gulped, her body shrinking. With nervous fingers, she toyed with the hem of her skirt.

I looked away and approached the last minion.

This wolf, I did not devour. I squatted at the crippled creature's side, gathering magic between my open palms. A slender thread coiled upon itself, unmei nuu ito. This was the core of my magic. A spell I had never used. The power to enslave.

A most potent poison.

My previous creations were but weakened replicas. The streamers that had danced within my tenkui ryu had lacked refinement. The wires cast by my kairai ito had been made sterile of malignant intent. This was the real thing, an insidious virus at its purest.

I distilled my power into a toxin without peer. Emotions were the cornerstone of my magic. Haigeki was rejection. It was born from hate, fear, and disgust. Shuken was subjugation. It was made of dreams, tyranny, and arrogance. To create my unmei nuu ito, I needed to renounce Garmr's existence, suppress his being, then impose my metamorphosis.

Haigeki was easy. Anger raged within me. Clear as crystal, I could see the wolf sinking his teeth into the ballerina. Again, I watched the skater's blood paint his coat crimson. I would kill the wolf. I would tear the beast apart. By my hand, Garmr would die.

Shuken was harder. It was not enough to wish the wolf changed. Unmei nuu ito mirrored my megami no ooi. The form I imposed had to resonate with my magic. How could I will such a thing? My heart already trembled with the fear that I would dominate myself.

Desperately, I scoured my soul. I found vanity. A lovely lady reflected in silver. I found strength. The unshakable resolve I felt when leaving Denial upon an altar of death. I was a girl. I was a senshi. I was Ranma Saotome.

My will lit on fire. Thick threads erupted from my dress. The filament rolled upon itself, forming a fist sized bundle. The mystic construct devoured the light. Darkness reigned around it, offset by a haunting pink illumination.

I held the ball of twine for a long moment. I stared at my creation, wondering if I should feel elation or disgust.

I grabbed the wolf. The crippled minion struggled against my strength. With my right hand, I pried its mouth open. I shoved the twine down the specter's throat. The wolf's teeth sank into skin. I ignored the pain and focused on my magic. The ball of thread wanted to unravel. I willed it still.

Trigger set, I yanked my arm free. The minion yelped. Teeth broke in my flesh.

Blood dribbled down my sleeve. The icy touch of shuken numbed my wound and stitched it closed. The minion let out pitiful whines. Curling upon itself, the creature nipped at its belly. I grabbed its muzzle. Thread sewed the snout shut.

I tucked the legless wolf under my arm and stood.

"You. Your name is Rin, right?"

"Eh?" Carrotcake noised. The wide eyed girl glanced from side to side then pointed at herself. I nodded. "That is right, Saotome-sama. Rin is my name. Rin Suzuki."

Rin Suzuki. Rin Suzuki. Silently, I repeated the words, committing them to memory. Soon, I would be Director of the Pretty Princess Institute. I had a responsibility to this girl. The least I could do was to know her name.

"Rin-chan, I have a task for you."

Rin blinked in confusion. Then her eyes widened. Snapping to her feet, Rin offered a military salute. "Of course, Saotome-sama. I am always ready to follow a senshi."

I snorted. "Good. Then-"

"W-wait!" Rin shouted. The girl waved her hands in furious denial. "I didn't mean it! I take it back! I can't help you, Saotome-sama. You are an enemy senshi." Rin drew a deep breath then slipped into a cute stance. "Prepare to die, Saotome-sama."

Gungnir rolled in my hands. The spear flashed down, stopping a dozen centimeters from her face. "We can fight, if that is what you want, Rin-chan."

"He-he-he," Rin laughed stiffly. The girl cringed back. Her shoulders slammed into the alley wall. "N-never mind that, Saotome-sama. I was only kidding." Tears welled in her eyes. "Please don't kill me."

I sighed and set Gungnir against my shoulder. "Relax. I just want you to pass a message to Akina. Tell her I want to talk to her."

"R-really?" Rin asked. The girls suddenly snapped back to attention. "I mean, of course Saotome-sama! Right away, Saotome-sama!"

The orange and brown dressed girl rushed away. An instant later, Rin skidded to a stop. "Sorry!" she squeaked. The girl quickly curtsied, then dashed from the alley a second time.

I smiled. The light feeling vanished quickly.

Akina would not be swayed by Rin's words. The Institute's general had a war to win. The best I could hope for was that, when I approached, Akina would listen. But that came later. Next, I had to talk to Cologne. Before that, I had to distract Garmr.

The great wolf could not be allowed to see the minion tucked under my arm.

It was time to call Michiko. "Tenshi osakebi."

A lance of pink shot through the sky. The bullet passed over the building Michiko occupied. The broken battleship lifted from the roof. Sluggishly, it turned toward Garmr. _Screeeeeeee!_ A pair of white hot cannons ripped through the the beast.

Garmr trembled, his form a roiling body of silver mist. The wolf growled his displeasure but refused the bait. Instead, the beast lunged for the tiny matriarch. Cologne's staff twirled. A whirlwind of ki deflected Garmr to her left. The wolf rolled across pavement, his padded feet struggling to stop his tumble. _Screeeeeeee!_ _Screeeeeeee!_ More beams pierced the beast. Garmr lurched to his feet.

"Enough!" Garmr roared. "Again you dare to interrupt my battle. I will wrench from the sky, woman. I will cast your broken body to the earth. Then I will devour you, slowly, so that all will know my rancor."

Cologne forgotten, the wolf surged into the air. Flame spewed from the back of Michiko's battleship. Her craft hurtled forward. Garmr struggled to keep up. His task was made all the more challenging when Michiko's cannons swiveled on their pivots and opened fire.

_Screeeeeeee! _Spears of light pierced Garmr. The beast roared with pain.

The chase was on. The immortal Garmr pursued with a furious persistence. At first, the wolf's quest appeared hopeless. Then the battleship's afterburner went silent. The gap between Michiko and Garmr shrank. The beast would win this match.

"Cologne!" I yelled, running onto the battlefield.

With her foe fled, the matriarch slumped. Cologne clutched her staff. The gnarled wood was all that held her up. The bastion of infinite strength was gone. Instead, I caught glimpse of the venerable woman hidden beneath.

"Son-in-law," Cologne croaked.

"Are you okay?" I asked, softly.

Cologne let out a weary chuckle. "It appears that my bones are too frail for long battles. Though it hurts my pride, I am thankful for your presence. If you were but a minute later, I would have met my end."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to leave you alone for so long," I apologized.

"No matter," Cologne dismissed. The aged woman dragged herself to her feet. Through sheer will, she dismissed her exhaustion. "It was my foolishness to tangle with such a beast. Tell me, how goes our war?"

"As well as can be expected. Akina has locked herself in her castle. It is Garmr who has me worried."

"Yes, that wolf has made nuisance of himself," Cologne muttered.

I glanced at the sky. The distance between Garmr and Michiko had been reduced to mere meters. Michiko preformed a twisting dive, dragging the beast low so that he flew over the Institute's base. Six silver towers opened fire. Garmr howled in pain. A dozen bolts of magic shot from the fortress adding to the barrage.

The wolf retreated, diving into a building. Michiko's ship stopped. The aluminum craft bobbed in place for a few seconds before taking up the pursuit. I grimaced. For Michiko's sake, I had to talk fast.

"I am out time," I said, dropping the minion at the old woman's feet. "Cologne, round up Garmr's minions. Pile as many as you can in one spot. Put them somewhere obvious, but not too obvious. This one goes in the middle." I stopped and gave a judging look. "Can you pull it off?"

Cologne poked the legless wolf with her wooden staff. "I see," she said, nodding to herself. "A risky gambit, son-in-law. Do not fear. I had the foresight to confiscate the last three seals from those children. I will put them to good use."

The ancient matriarch grabbed the wolf by the scruff of its neck. Cologne pogoed her way over the exhausted wrecking crew. My troops stirred, but did not rise at her presence. All of them were content to rest upon the ground.

_Bang. Bang. Bang. _Cologne pounded her staff against the road. "Get up you lazy lay abouts. Letting an old woman do your fighting, shame on you," she barked.

With a groan, the wrecking crew stood. Only Mousse remained seated. The boy's white robe was soaked with crimson. Still the Joketsuzoku warrior shifted his glasses and gave the old woman his attention.

"I will handle this rabble," Cologne said, addressing me. "Do you need anything else?"

"No," I answered. "I need to talk to Akina. But I can't have any of you with me when doing that. If I have the crew at my side, I will look insincere."

"I see," Cologne said. Her ancient eyes focused on me. "Good hunting, son-in-law."

I nodded. "To you as well."

There were multiple approaches to the Institute's base. The quickest and most obvious was through the front. The slowest was from above. Time aside, an aerial assault held the advantage. It narrowed my period of exposure, reducing the effectiveness of the Institute's ranged attacks. It offered the element of surprise.

I chose that path and prayed Michiko would hold out.

The battlefield was silent. The heavy fighting had ended a while ago. The Institute's overwhelming superiority was gone. Akina had, roughly, a dozen functional fighters. Her attempts to restore her shikigami had garnered no more than a century. The Institute's forces were reduced to a fifth.

With such limited strength, Akina was unable to resist my approach. If I had tried this tactic earlier, her forces would have hounded my steps. Scores of shikigami would have been dumped onto the roofs. Gunships would have hammered my position. Magical girls would have added to the fire.

Instead, there was a chilling quiet. Screech of Michiko's cannons was the only sound that broke stillness. The emptiness was unnerving. Dozens of buildings were devoid of life. Tokyo's police force had evacuated the inhabitants. Looking over my shoulder, I could see the rows of flashing lights. The strangeness struck me. We were trashing the city. Why would they stand aside?

But stand aside they did. I was grateful for it. In this warzone, three parties were one too many. To add a fourth would generate death and chaos on scale I could not hope to contain.

I reached the summit of the building adjacent to the bar. I chuckled. Operation heaven drop, my aborted tactic, lived again. A grimness replaced the levity. I was about to jump into the heart of the Institute's force. A great deal could go wrong.

Don't lose now, Ranma.

I raised a foot. Wisps of pink energy swirled around my leg. I stomped. A bolt of haigeki erupted from my heel. The roof shattered beneath me, dropping me into the floor below. My aura increased its intensity. Lengths of thread flowed through my ki. A whirlwind whipped around me only to be sucked into Gungnir.

"Tenshi ittou."

The mystic blade carved cement like butter. An angular block began to slide toward the Institute's base. I hit it with a blast of haigeki. Concrete burst into rubble. I exploded forward, hiding in the shadow of the falling debris. The roar of my ki grew ever greater. Gungnir drank deep, drawing energy until the spear seethed with my spiritual force.

_Screeeeeeee!_

Six turrets opened fire. White hot matter sprayed across the wreck of rock and rubble. Weak beams failed to pierced my cover. Instead, they heated the stone into a mess of magma.

I set the toe of my shoe on fiery concrete. Smoke sizzled. I pushed off. I rose above the rubble, my leap magnified by the airfoils growing from my back. The Institute woke to my assault. Girls answered Akina's call. Lines formed. Chaos gave way to order.

The auto turrets glowed. A few more seconds and they would unleash their fury again. Dust and rock bounced off an invisible barrier. A spectral wall separated me from the Institute. My cover was gone.

With all my strength, I hurled Gungnir.

The spear became a beam of light. A streak of pink penetrated the barrier. The wall shattered like glass. The weapon refracted. Gungnir's law was in effect. Empowered by my magic, the spear cared little that I knew nothing of my target. If it needed to, Gungnir would reject the world itself and strike true.

_Thung!_ Gungnir quivered. A third of the weapon was visible, the rest was buried in a silver device. Giant bolts of lightning exploded. Girls screamed, electrocuted by the discharge. The generator went silent. All six turrets died with it.

I touched ground.

The Institute attacked.

A sneakered foot flashed across my nose. I snagged the ankle of an athlete in red bloomers. I whirled. The athlete crashed into the gathering mass. A maid lunged in, her mop slashing down. I stepped back. Soft cloth whipped across my chest. The maid followed with a thrust, I slid around it and replied with a lightning fast fist.

The maid's shuken held. With grace, she drew back. Her pole arm twirled. A wide slash swept across my neck. I dropped and kicked her legs from underneath her.

Carrots ripped through my shadow. A pillar of ice exploded at my feet. Violet motes whirled around me. Mucus thickened. My nose became a plug.

I cavorted in the chaos. "Truce! Truce!" I cried.

The maid and athlete regained their feet. Rin flanked me. Lilac twirled her rod, summoning a bed flowers.

Akina took the fore. "And why should we agree to a ceasefire, Saotome, when you have been so kind as to place yourself in our care?"

Despite Akina's words, the Institute backed off. The violet motes vanished. The maid and athlete stepped back. The Institute encircled me. Fourteen girls and a hundred shikigami cut off escape. Akina positioned herself between me and Gungnir.

"And while we are fighting, how many girls will you lose to Garmr?" I challenged.

"Senshi take precedence, Saotome-chan," Kamiko said briskly. The psychiatrist pushed her way to the front of the crowd. "The Director's feelings on this matter are quite clear. She is willing to exchange a number of lives for victory."

I scowled. Kamiko was right. Artemis would gladly sacrifice ten or even twenty girls to get her way. In her eyes, the bulk of the Institute was disposable trash. I, on the other hand, was a fundamental component to the Director's plan. No. My importance had become irrelevant. Artemis's pride demanded that she crush the knight that had betrayed her.

"Forget about the Director," I dismissed. I glared into the woman's hazel gaze. "How many girls are _you _willing to sacrifice?"

"Please spare us the accusation, Saotome-chan. You know quite well that we cannot defy the Director," Kamiko replied. Her hawk-like eyes narrowed. "Besides, this argument is extraneous. After considering your earlier speech, I have concluded that you are key to Hecate's strategy. Whatever our personal feelings may be, when it comes to a battle determining the Institute's existence, I am compelled to accept any number of casualties."

"This isn't about the Institute's existence and you know it," I shot back. "And if a senshi is your highest priority, what about her?"

I pointed at the sky. Michiko's battleship streaked overhead. _Screeeeeeee!_ Lines of white fire cut through the heavens. The great wolf Garmr, dived low, vanishing through the roof of a building. The weapons wasted themselves on the concrete. A second later, the beast burst from the structure's side. Garmr's great maw closed on the aluminum craft, tearing off the entire backside.

Without flight support, the battleship crashed into the street below.

"That idiot!" Akina cursed.

Without hesitation, the black bodiced idol, turned and grasped Gungnir. Akina yanked the spear from the generator. She tossed the weapon my way. I snatched it from the air.

"Akina," Kamiko said sternly.

"I am not going to watch Michiko get killed," Akina snapped. Her violet eyes whirled on me. "Saotome, you better help me or I swear I will kill you."

Without waiting for my answer, Akina sprinted away. I followed. The Institute's forces parted, refusing to bar my path. Akina had the lead, but my superior speed quickly put me at her side.

The battleship had smashed into the ground then plowed into the lobby of a building. The silver machines built into the aluminum frame exploded. _B-boom! _ A sonic wave hit my chest. Pillars of blue flame licked the sky, then dwindled into more natural fires.

Michiko lay on the street, her back pressed against a light pole. During the final moments of descent, she must have separated from her craft. Her lab coat was splayed open, revealing bloody skin and silver swimsuit. The scientist tried to sit.

Garmr pounced. The colossal wolf's jaws were wide enough to swallow a car. He chomped down. Yellowed teeth hit the spectral surface of Michiko's barrier. With icy calm, Michiko dragged her chrome cannon close then fired.

_Screeeeeeee!_ The beam cut through Garmr's throat and out his hind. The beast dissolved into silver flame. Like a phoenix, he was reborn. Undeterred, the wolf lunged again.

An angelic voice rang out. Akina sang with rapid notes. Six acoustic bullets formed at her side. The projectiles smashed into Garmr, sending him rolling across the street. A moment later, we came to a stop, half a meter from the downed Michiko.

Akina stooped at the scientist's side. Gently, the idol set her hands on Michiko's shoulders.

"You okay, Mi-chan?" Akina asked.

"Negative," Michiko answered. The blond's voice was strained. "My left humerus and clavide are shattered. Four ribs are fractured. My right tibia is bruised. I am no longer combat capable."

I snorted laugh, amused by her rigor. "She will be fine," I translated.

Akina draped Michiko over her shoulder. She stood. The taller Michiko leaned on the smaller woman. Those two were going nowhere fast.

Akina's violet eyes pierced me. "I thought you were smarter than this, Saotome."

"Candidate Saotome's resources were limited," Michiko defended. "I volunteered my assistance."

"Shut up, Mi-chan," Akina snapped. "You do not have the experience to make that judgment. Saotome does." Akina's glare shifted back to me. "What were you thinking? You knew Michiko could not hold off Garmr."

"I was thinking of all the girls that would die if I did nothing," I returned. My eyes flashed. "Or do you only care about senshi?"

A heavy chuckle stopped our debate.

"A spat between witches. Did your alliance fade so quickly?" Garmr rumbled. The beast prowled forward, his huge bulk dominating the street. "Shall I fight three witches at once? Or will you tear yourselves apart before I can devour your tiny number?"

Akina glanced my way while keeping wary eyes on the wolf. "What is the plan, Saotome?"

Motioning for silence, I faced the wolf. There were ten meters between us. For Garmr, that distance measured a single lunge.

Keeping my spear at the ready, I took in the field. The broken bar was at my back. The Institute's fortress provided poor shelter. The barrier was gone. The turrets were inactive. Without those tools their position was indefensible.

Past Garmr, hidden within an alley, was the wrecking crew. Ukyou carried her spatula like a bat. The chef wanted to rush out into the street. Cologne held her at bay. The ancient matriarch whispered harsh words into Ukyou's ear.

The rest of the crew was worn to a nub. Shampoo watched from the alley entrance, her wounded arm wrapped in lengths of torn cloth. Her hammers sat within reach. Mousse had found the strength to stand. The boy was at Shampoo's side, looking like a pillar of strength. A lie. I had seen Mousse's injury. He could provide little more than a well timed knife.

Emiko had hit her limit. Tenki had collapsed. The plain clothed girl wrung her hands fretfully. Konatsu placed herself at Emiko's side. With sword bared, the kunoichi's sharp eyes searched the battlefield for hidden predators. Her shuken provided cover to the entire squad of warriors.

At the mouth of the alley were Garmr's minions. The spectral wolves were piled in a giant mound then wrapped in chain. A triplet of ofuda gave Mousse's steel the power to touch their ghostly flesh. The minions squirmed within their cage, unable to escape.

Everything was in order.

My attention snapped back to Garmr.

"I have no intention of allying against you, Garmr," I answered. "What I have negotiated is the removal of these irritating obstacles. I am tired of being interrupted."

"You put aside your war to fight me?" Garmr's laughter boomed like thunder. "What joyful tiding. I accept your duel, witch. Let us dance the dance of death."

I glanced over my shoulder. "Akina, take Michiko somewhere safe. Keep your girls out of this fight. We can finish our war after I end Garmr."

"Yes, run worthless monkeys. You are of no interest to me."

The great wolf set himself on his hind. Garmr's golden eyes glared his fury. The beast's wrath filled the field, seeking to drive away all obstructions.

Akina adjusted her companion then started the journey back to her fortress. "The Institute will stay its hand, Saotome. But when Garmr falls, our fight continues."

"I never thought otherwise."

"Of course not," Akina said, tossing her hair. "You are a beast, Saotome. You would never think to end a war by sharing your heart." The idol's ruby lips curved into a smile. "Take care, kohai. If you die, who will sew my uniform?"

I snorted.

Again, Akina pushed to make me more feminine. No. That was not what she wanted. What Akina desired was to share with me her love of girlish things. _The senshi are my sisters_. The brainwashed thought echoed through my head. I was not the only one the Institute had twisted.

But was a false feeling so terrible? And if so, why not make it real? Sisters. I smiled. I could live with that.

"Don't worry, senpai. When I am director, I will put aside some time to help you with that cutesy uniform. Who knows, I might even let you shove a few of my girls into it."

Michiko glanced back. Her steel blue eyes narrowed. "No loose ribbons," she warned.

I smirked. "Definitely not."

Michiko and Akina limped away. The street cleared. Garmr and I remained. The girls of the Institute gathered at the edge of the broken bar. The wrecking crew found seats at the mouth of the alley. All eyes were on the brewing fight.

Garmr paced around me. The beast's head was low and its lips peeled. Long rows of sharp teeth glistened in the sunlight. I circled with him, resting Gungnir against my shoulder. I walked with a lazy strut.

When the wolf made no move to strike, I extended an arm and made a come hither gesture.

"What are you waiting for, pup?"

"I am merely contemplating how best to eat you, witch," Garmr said in a low, rumbling voice. "Should I rend you with my teeth? Should I trample you with my feet? No. For a dish so delicious, only one thing will do. I will take you with a single gulp!"

Garmr lunged.

The beast crossed ten meters in a single leap. His mouth gaped, his throat an eternal abyss. I sprinted under, drawing Gungnir in a wicked slash. Garmr had seen this ploy before. Before Gungnir's steel could touch, he dissolved into mist.

Garmr's ghostly form touched ground behind me. With mighty teeth, he struck at my rear.

I flipped back. _Crunch_. Garmr's muzzle closed centimeters short. The ridge of the wolf's head slammed into my shoulder blades. I tumbled over crimson fur. Heels touched ground near Garmr's back. The wolf twisted upon himself, his maw spreading wide for another bite.

An opening. I drew my spear in a vicious slash. Gungnir cut a crescent arc. Spectral blood exploded from the back of the wolf's right foot.

Garmr stumbled. That slight pause was all I needed. I jumped back, clearing a dozen meters. Garmr slowed his charge. With a growl, the beast tested his injured foot.

"You seek to cripple me, witch?" he accused.

"And, when I am done, I will butcher you like a pig," I asserted. I returned Gungnir to my shoulder and made a show by yawning. "Now hurry up and call your minions. If it is just you, I will die of boredom."

Garmr's thunderous laughter shattered glass. "And you named this a duel. If it is your wish to fight me at my greatest, witch, I shall grant it. Aroooo! A-a-roooo!"

The heavens trembled when Garmr howled. The beast did not wait for his call to be answered. Before the last echo could be heard, he charged.

Garmr was joined fiery wisps. Wolves, both great and small, lunged as one. The minions leapt high. Garmr dived low. The great beast sank into the earth beneath me.

I backpedaled, cutting the specters from the sky. Garmr erupted from the ground at me feet. The colossal beast was a second too slow. Nimbly, I dived to the right, the stench of Garmr's rotting breath rolling over me.

I retreated further, drawing my foes toward my poisoned package.

Arrows whistled through the wind. Shuken covered my surprise. Gungnir snapped out, shattering projectiles in midair. A figure skater flashed across my view. Bladed shoes glided over concrete as though it were ice. The shades of the dead had joined the fight.

The skater closed, opening with a series of beautiful leaps. Crescents of ice were carved by her elegant kicks. Projectiles slashed through my shadow, sheering sparks of pink from my aura. The swimmer was at my rear. Watery serpents slithered across the ground, spewing spears of high velocity water. Homing arrows added to the chaos. The projectiles flew high and wide, arcing in from all sides.

Garmr's minion's increased the pressure. The wolves made cautious lunges, nipping at heels and calves when I turned my eyes. The opportunistic strikes disrupted my rhythm.

But, of all threats, it was the colossal beast to which I gave my attention. I tracked Garmr. The wolf flew high. He traced an aerial loop then rushed down upon my head, a spectral meteor targeting my position.

I cast Gungnir. The spear buried itself in his eye.

Garmr howled. Blinded by pain, he fell to the earth. Without hesitation, I stole the offense, praying that Gungnir's blow would prevent counter attack.

The skater flew at me. She rose in a magnificent whirl. I slipped under her bladed boots, weaving hands around silken legs. Lengths of ribbon entangled the skater, forming a cocoon of cloth. She tumbled, her spin aborted by the thread that bound her head to toe.

I danced on. With the swish of my hand, I snagged a pair of arrows. Twirling right, I threw the projectiles. The sacred spears took the swimmer's snakes in the neck. Explosions of purifying light dissolved them instantly.

Garmr smashed into concrete. The ghost's form melted into mist. Gungnir did not. The spear's blunted end met asphalt. The blade was driven beast's back, drawing blood for the entire length.

I reached for my weapon. Slender threads of black and white wrapped the haft. With a jerk, I brought it near.

With spear in hand, I became a whirlwind. Quick slashes cut a score of arrows from the air. With vicious thrusts, I ripped through the spectral wolves surrounding me. Cut by Gungnir's steel, they fell forever. No silver fire offered rebirth.

Streams of water pounded my position. I slipped between the liquid lances, my shuken shuddering. The swimmer had restored her avatars.

Garmr's maw surged from the street below. The beast caught me by surprise. With infinite grace, I flipped back. Dagger-like teeth scraped my stocking clad legs. Shuken splintered in a storm of light. My mystical defense had failed.

I hit the ground, did a handspring, then landed amongst the startled wrecking crew.

"Stand off!" I warned. "I am fighting him alone."

Garmr prowled closer. The beast took care to keep me in view of his remaining eye. With a twist of his neck, the wolf bit into the massive pile of chained minions. Garmr raised his head. The lump rolled down his throat. Roaring, white fire poured through his teeth.

"To leave a weapon so potent was a grave error," Garmr taunted. "You should have destroyed my servants with your spear. Your mercy and arrogance have ruined you, witch. But your courage deserves respect. Step away from your comrades. I will honor your wish and shed naught but your blood when I mangle your corpse."

I stood tall and laughed. With bold confidence, I addressed the wolf. "Before that, answer me one question Garmr. Where do those wolves go when you eat them?"

The great wolf stilled. A slow chuckle slipped from Garmr's throat. "Sly witch, you poisoned my feed."

Tension drained from me. To slay Garmr, he had to draw my poison in. But my path had been uncertain. I knew Garmr ate his wolves. I knew that the minions underwent a mystic transformation. But I had not known whether the creatures were processed by this Garmr or the other Garmr.

I had gambled and won. Victory was mine.

"Do you acknowledge your defeat?" I challenged.

"It is as you say, witch," Garmr agreed. "Your vile curse roars through my veins. Through wicked cunning, you have slain me. Victory is yours. Now I must venture from this field and bare my fangs at your magic lest I face an ignoble end."

Garmr's remaining minions evaporated into mist. The great wolf turned his back and padded away. He made three steps before pausing. Garmr's head turned back. A giant, golden eye focused on me.

"I name you Chooser, witch." Garmr proclaimed. "Gungnir is yours by divine right. My name is yours through glorious conquest. Howl it to the heavens and I will answer. But be wary, Chooser. Mine is the path of death and destruction. I will offer no mercy. I will spare no lives. I will tear your enemies asunder and feast upon their flesh."

"I know how you work, Garmr," I replied. "Should I ever happen upon a whole lot of people I want dead, I will be sure to call. Assuming you survive."

Garmr chuckled. "Arrogant to end. Do not think that your curse will end me. I am Garmr, son of Fenrir. I will not fall to mortal magic. But should I feel my end approach, I promise you this, witch. I shall howl my doom with such fury that all gods, dead and living, will know that it was you who slew the great Garmr."

Garmr's mouth split in a broad, lupine smile. As he walked away, the shades of the Institute's fallen joined him.

"Wait!" I called suddenly. "Those girls. What happens to them?"

"These worms?" Garmr snorted. "Long ago, I would have brought them to Valhalla. There, they would have served the fool god Odin. But that old man is dead and rotted. It is no concern of mine which afterlife they choose."

A strong gust rolled over me. Silver fire was washed way. Garmr was gone.

I let out a long breath and faced the wrecking crew.

My army was in poor condition. Wounds and exhaustion had rendered half my crew useless. Only Ukyou, Konatsu, and Cologne could fight. Of those three, Konatsu was the closest to fresh. Fortunately, Akina's troops were as broken as mine.

"Let's finish this," I said.

Cologne lifted her gnarled staff. With a gentle thud, the wood tapped my skull.

"There is no _we_, Son-in-Law," Cologne reprimanded. "You have wasted enough strength fighting meaningless opponents. Leave this field to us. Go to the Institute. There you will find the battle that _you_ must win."

Ha! How stupid of me. Garmr was gone. The Institute's air force was obliterated. If Akina marched on the Pretty Princess Institute with her shattered army, she would break against Hikaru's strength. But, before that, she would have to slip past the wrecking crew.

Cologne was right. This battle was over. All objectives had been met. My job was not to finish Akina. My job was to kill Artemis.

I nodded. "Then I leave it to you, old ghoul."

"Cheeky brat," Cologne grumbled. "When I am done cleaning up this mess, I will be sure to give you a sound thrashing."

I flashed a smile and took to the roofs.

-oOo-

The Pretty Princess Institute.

The first time I had passed through its gates, I had been full of anger and arrogance. My naive confidence had been matched by my petty goals and petty fears. My heart had trembled at the thought of tenki. I had feared that I would be stuck as a woman. The prospect of defeat had not crossed my mind.

The second time I had passed through its gates, I had been broken. The Institute, in its cruelty, had destroyed me. Who was I? I had wondered. Back then, the sweet taste of freedom had brought no relief. My doom had seemed inevitable.

Now, I prepared to pass through the gates of the Pretty Princess Institute a third time.

The atmosphere had changed. The busy crossroads were barricaded by cones and flashing lights. Cavernous trenches split the asphalt. The web of broken earth cut across road, sliced through the sidewalks, then chopped buildings apart. Rubble littered the ground. The once bustling block had been abandoned.

Ahead was the source of the disturbance. Wavering in and out of reality was the hill, gate, and manor that made up the Institute. Space beat with each pulse of the world's heart. Tidal forces rippled out. The earth moaned and shifted. The ground trembled beneath me. Slowly, Akihabara gave space to Artemis's realm.

I stepped through the wrought iron gates.

Today I was neither brash nor beaten. I was resolved. I knew the dangers that lay ahead. I knew the consequence of failure. No longer did I fear for myself. I had stared, steely eyed at my girlish reflection. I had accepted the face looking back as my own. Tenki had been ground into my soul. There was no going back.

As for those precious things that Artemis could steal? My pride. My purpose. My principles. I was prepared to lose them all.

What I feared for was others. Hikaru, Syaoran, and Sakura – if I failed, all three would die. They were good people, better than I could hope to be. While I had explored China and whined about my curse, they had dedicated their lives to uprooting evil. What they asked in return was nothing. No thanks. No rewards. Just the smiles of the girls they saved.

Then there was the wrecking crew. By fighting at my side, they became the Institute's targets. Cologne had risked her tribe in order to aid me. Mousse had swallowed his hatred and wielded steel on my behalf. I owed them a debt. For their sake, I had to win.

But, above all else, what drove me was the Institute itself. Two hundred girls resided within these walls. All of them had been ripped from their families, tortured with _agony_, then made to serve those they should have despised. To free them, I had to become the Institute's director. Artemis had to die.

And this was my chance to make it happen.

The courtyard was in ruins. A forest of vines jutted from the ground. The soil was sunken near their roots, creating pits and valleys amongst the once flat land. Trimmed bushes had been hacked apart. Trees were burnt to ash. The cobble road was a shattered mess. The Institute's manicured lawn had become a hellscape.

The manor did not escape that fate. The eastern, school-like wing was destroyed. Two great gashes had been cut through its face. A titanic tree grew through the roof. The black branches stretched down, looking like the arms of a demon.

The western wing fared better. The building was blackened. The roof had been razed. Skeletal support beams were exposed.

Only the cathedral stood stalwart. The ancient stone bore the marks of mighty strikes. The steeple had been sheered clean off. The iron structure impaled the earth, a deadly warning only paces from the heavy, oaken doors.

The left portal was open. Two of Chiyo's servants stood guard. They curtsied as I entered.

Hikaru's crew crowded the cathedral. A brutal battle had been fought inside. The ancient walls endured. The wooden pews did not. The benches had been reduced to planks then piled up at the back of the room. Small groups lounged along the walls, tending all manner of wounds.

Near the back, just short of the throne and dais, were the priests that sustained four emperors seal. Syaoran, Sakura, Neptune, and Tuxedo faced North, South, East and West respectively. Their hands were folded. Their eyes were closed. Their lips mouthed a quiet chant.

Imprisoned at the cathedral's heart was Artemis. The caged lioness paced across polished, granite floor. Her heeled court shoes clicked with every step. The stone building echoed the sound like an amphitheater.

"This world is not ours to fashion," Setsuna spoke.

The woman's back faced me, her voluminous green hair obscuring her features. Her dark boots rested on the rim of the vine and moon sigil emblazed on floor. A silver, key shaped staff hung loose in her hand.

A few paces away, a blond haired senshi lounged on a propped up pew. Uranus amused herself by carving a crude figure with her sword. The blond glanced up when I entered. Uranus flashed a lewd smile, then returned her attention to the hunk of wood. A metal briefcase sat at her feet.

"Not ours to fashion?" Artemis scoffed. The elegant queen sneered down upon the green haired woman, as though she were scolding a child. "You forget your duties, Hecate. Serenity named you regent. The Moon Kingdom is our responsibility. As are all its holdings. Not only is this world ours to fashion, it is our obligation to do so."

"Terra was never ours, Artemis. Even if it had been, it would be irrelevant. The Moon Kingdom is dead."

"By your hands and your choice," Artemis spat. "Do you think I am blind, Hecate? I may be bound to this prison, but I have eyes and ears. In all these millennia, what have you done? Nothing! You control the gates. It should have been trivial for you to coach these savages, to fashion them into an army, to make this world bend. Instead, you stood aside, idle, offering little more than passing advice.

"And do not tell me you were waiting for your princess. Her mannerism is sloven. Her education is contemptible. And her leadership is puerile. It is clear that you have done nothing to prepare her for her duties. That child is unfit for the throne."

"Throne?" Setsuna lowered her head and let loose a huff of amusement. "There is no throne, Artemis. There are no cities. There are no people. There is not so much as myth. The Moon Kingdom is gone. It is dead. Its corpse has rotted. All that is left on Luna is dust."

"While I draw breath, the Moon Kingdom will never die!"

"Then be content in your delusion, oh Queen of Dust," Setsuna proclaimed, sweeping her staff as she made a mocking bow. "But I refuse your game of pretend. I outgrew those childish antics a long time ago."

I cast my eyes over the crowd. I spotted Hikaru leaning against a marble pillar. The sandy haired blond's face was a purple mess, and his right arm was wrapped in white bandages.

I took a seat next to him and snagged the roll of gauze.

"You guys look pretty banged up," I commented. With soft thump, I set a duffel bag at my side. "Everything in order?"

Hikaru glanced around. Half his crew was injured. Chiyo's girls were at least as scuffed. The sight left me ambivalent. If Akina appeared, the battle might not be as one sided as I had hoped.

"Damn, we do look like shit," Hikaru said, as though noticing for the first time. "Don't worry about it kid, everything is in hand. The Institute's girls are locked up nice and tight over there in west wing."

I frowned, remembering the open roof. "And they can't get out?"

Hikaru answered with a shrug. "Magic. Whatever spell Artemis put on that place is still intact. No way in. No way out. Well, except that door over there. But, with Chiyo and Fumio camping on it, I doubt anyone has the guts to try."

My eyes were drawn to the west wall. Fumio sat on a broken bench a meter from the door. The dark haired boy watched the portal with gleeful anticipation. A dozen plastic bottles were stacked at his side. No doubt, if the door were to open, he would kill first and ask questions never.

Chiyo took a more relaxed approach. The tiny girl rested against a stone wall. Her tenki had been abandoned and her ruffled, green dress set aside. Cute, powder white lingerie lured my eyes. The loveliness of silk against skin was offset by the lengths of gauze peeling from Chiyo's belly. A servant knelt at her master's side, tending the hole punched through Chiyo's gut.

The wound Gondul dealt had yet to heal.

Chiyo perked up. Her face split in a shameless smile. The chocolate haired girl waved at me then started to rise. The flustered servant held her master down.

My gaze returned to Hikaru.

"What happened to you, then?" I asked. I gave a teasing smile. "Did you try to stop a bull with your face?"

"I wish," Hikaru grumbled. The older man scratched the back of his head, his expression sheepish. "I was doing great until we caught the Director. Then I had a dumb ass idea. I said hey, Hikaru, why don't you just hop on in there, pop a cap in her, and call it a day?"

To emphasize his point, Hikaru waggled his weapon in front of me. It was a pump action shotgun. The steel barrel was shaved off, reducing its length in half.

"That woman, I shit you not, has a god damned shield." Hikaru scowled at the ground. "My story gets pretty pathetic after that. Artemis beat the living crap out of me. Broke my arm. Nearly broke my face too. I suppose I should call myself lucky. Chiyo sent that Kodachi girl in to soften the her up. Artemis gutted her like a fish."

Hikaru nodded in the direction of the gothic lolita. His eyes dimmed at the sight. Kodachi was propped against a wall. Dark lace matted against her skin. A pool of blood formed under her dress. Shallow breath was all that reveled her waning life. Not a soul tended her. Tenki remained in place. Given how shuken disguised wounds, I could only imagine the horror hidden beneath.

I moved to stand. Hikaru set a hand on my shoulder. The blond shook his head.

"She's delirious, kid. When I went to her, she damn near killed me," Hikaru said softly. "I know it ain't right, but you best stay away. You get hurt and it is all for nothing."

"She's dead, isn't she," I whispered.

Hikaru closed his eyes and nodded. "Yeah. She's a regular zombie. When tenki goes, so will she."

With a sick grimace, I sat back down. A spark of fury ran through me. I found myself glaring at Artemis. The impatient queen prowled the four emperors seal. She was waiting. Waiting for the magic to fall. And, when it did, she would kill us all.

"How much longer can we hold her?" I asked.

"I don't know. A couple of hours I guess?" Hikaru leaned back, resting his head against cold stone. "They've been swapping me in and out. Gives everyone a chance to shit and piss."

I closed my eyes. A couple of hours. Plenty of time.

I pulled the duffel bag close. A month ago this same canvas container had been stuffed full of feminine garments. The sight of the pretty pink dress had left me paralyzed. I had questioned myself. I had challenged my resolve. Now I stood on the other side of the mirror. The feeling was different. Back then, I had been staring at my future. Today, I said goodbye to the past.

I took a metal thermos from the bag. Faint warmth seeped through the flask's wall. I unscrewed the lid. Hot water spilled over my skin. My body shifted. Breasts melted. Fingers thickened. Corded muscle gained mass. My height increased. My clothes became uncomfortably tight.

I worked the buttons of my blouse. I stripped the shirt then fumbled with my bra. Hikaru's gaze made me self conscious. I flashed an annoyed glare, glad I had resisted the urge to wear a skirt.

"You know what the worst part about this curse is?" I grumbled. "The clothes. No matter what I do, I look like an idiot when I change."

"Sorry, kid, I didn't mean to stare," Hikaru apologized. "But I have to ask, can you fight? That is a mean looking wound you got there. Remember, when you're in the Thunderdome, you won't have tenki covering for you."

A hole as wide as a knuckle was cut through my chest, courtesy of a spectral rapier. The blade had narrowly missed my vitals. A few centimeters to the right and I would be breathing through a tube. And that was merely the worst of my wounds. My right shoulder had been dislocated then slipped back into place. Dozens of bruises decorated my skin. A score of scratches were revealed in red. My worn muscles felt like lead.

I hid my weakness. This was not the first time I was forced to fight when far from fresh.

"This?" I snorted. "A flesh wound. Wrap it a few times and it is as good as gone."

"Yeesh, kid, even the man of steel would be bawling from a wound like that." Hikaru shook his head in disbelief. "So, any special reason you're going as a guy. Looking for an edge? You know, more muscle and all that."

I drew the gauze around my chest, wrapping my wound. I kept the layers light. When fighting Artemis, I would need my mobility. At worst, this hole would drain my blood and strength. The Director's steel would cut me in half.

"More like a last hurrah," I explained. I patted the bag at my side. "I prepared this ahead of time. I am glad I did. Artemis's senshi negotiated a few terms I was not expecting. Between those and tenki, this might be my last shot at manhood."

"Shit. I never thought I would hear you say that."

"Neither did I." With a jerk, I tore the bandage. I tied it in place. Releasing a breath, I fell back. My head hit the cathedral wall with a hard thunk. "But I am sick of fighting. I have been at war with this curse since day one. The damn thing taunts me. I don't know how many cures I have seen come and go.

"And now?" I let out a bitter laugh. "Now there is no point. Curse or not, I am probably going to spend the rest of my life as a girl. So I figured, instead of running away, why not run forward? No holding back. I am going to try every girly thing there ever was."

"You got guts, kid, I'll give you that," Hikaru said. The blond patted me on the back. "I hope you find what you're looking for. I would hate to see a good fellow like you get swallowed by the abyss."

"So do I," I replied.

I stared at the ceiling. Little fires were held by elegant, crystal chandeliers. The cathedral's beauty was mesmerizing. As tainted as my memories were, I decided I would preserve this place. The throne would have to go, but the cathedral as a whole was too wonderful to waste.

"To tell the truth, it scares the hell out of me. A part of me is always screaming: 'This is the wrong road, Ranma.' I try tell myself it doesn't matter. That being cute is not a bad thing. It never works. My guts lurch. I freeze up. I have to force myself forward. When I do, the fear strikes again. I worry that I am going too far. But, so what if I go too far? If I can know my feelings well enough to say 'I hate this', then I have found a measure of myself. If I end up loving who I become?" I quirked a smile. "Then I suppose I will be an adorable angel."

"And there will be no shame in it, either. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." The blond gave a teasing smile. "Say, does this mean I can start hitting on you?"

I gave Hikaru a nasty look then punched him in the face.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Hikaru whimpered, clutching his cheek. "Shit. You didn't have to hit so hard. I am a wounded man, remember."

"Quit your whining, or I will cash in my second rain check," I said, shaking my fist at the man. My light smile faded. Again, my eyes found Artemis. "You fought her, right? Any tips?"

"The Director?" Hikaru noised, rubbing his bruised face. "Sorry, kid, I didn't last long enough to give her any trouble. What I can tell you is that box strapped to her hip is her shielding device."

I squinted, taking in Artemis's profile. At first glance, queen was dressed for an evening ball. A crown of silver graced her head. Her gown, embroidered in gold, brushed the granite floor. A jeweled belt gave shape to her hips. That was where the illusion ended. Sheathed on Artemis's right was a talwar, the plain hilt worn from years of use. On her left was the rectangular box Hikaru had mentioned.

"If she has a shield, how am I supposed to fight her?" I asked

"You don't need to worry about that, kid. The Director's shield only good against guns. It blocked my shotgun just fine. Even deflected a few of Kodachi's spiked clubs. But, once that girl got in close, she gave the Director a fair bit of trouble. Well, until Artemis whipped out that sword of hers anyway. After that it was _shing_ dead. Faster than you could see."

I frowned. "But that doesn't make sense. The four emperors seal should suppress magic."

"No seal is perfect, Ranma-kun," Setsuna interrupted.

The bickering between Setsuna and Artemis had cooled. Now the Director aimed her sharp words at a bored Uranus. Setsuna sauntered my way. Her garnet eyes flickered across my chest.

"Kinzu cannot forbid the forces of nature," she continued. "Nor can it influence supernatural powers that are properly contained. Appearances aside, Artemis's barrier conforms to the laws of physics. And while the inner workings of her device do operate on arcane principles, they have been shielded from the seal's touch."

"It's a scifi machine," I said with a grimace. "Great. How many more tricks does that woman have up her sleeves?"

"Quite a few, I would imagine," Setsuna said. "In the Silver Millennium, Artemis made many enemies. I believe that there was a time when the Terrans attempted seventeen assassinations in as many months. As seals were a common tactic, Artemis developed a habit of carrying specialized weapons on her person. Alas, that paranoia has yet to fade."

"I can't say I blame her for that," I replied. "What will the playing field look like then? From what you said, I am guessing that internal magics are suppressed to a lesser degree. Artemis's spiritual power is greater than mine. Will she be stronger and faster?"

"I do not believe that will be the case, Ranma-kun," Setsuna answered. "While Artemis's magic is greater in potency, it is decidedly less natural in origin. Likely, it is you who holds the advantage of physique. Do mind, however, that any edge will be slight."

I breathed sigh of relief. That was one weight off my chest. "Last question. Gungnir. What will the four emperors seal do to my spear?"

"Gungnir's law is invoked through overt manipulation of reality. Such magics will be completely suppressed," Setsuna explained. "However, Gungnir's other mystical properties – spells of sharpness and endurance – will be held in their entirety. Be warned, you are not unique in holding a legendary weapon. The sword at Artemis's side is named Katengecchi. It should not be underestimated."

I nodded and stood. I pulled a Chinese shirt over my frame. A shock of pain ran through my ribs. I ignored it and fired off a few practice punches. Air cracked with the whip of my sleeves. My movements were smooth. I was as ready as I would ever be.

"I never expected this to be easy."

With purposeful strides, I approached the Thunderdome. A continuous murmur rolled over me. Syaoran paused for a moment and took a sip of water. The green robed boy offered a solemn nod before bowing his head and resuming his chant. Setsuna stopped at my side. She set her hand against invisible space. Her lips mouthed a silent spell. The garnet ball embedded in her staff gleamed brilliantly.

The Director turned toward me. Through stature alone, she exuded a presence so heavy I was made small. Stubbornly, I squared my shoulders and stood tall.

"So the knight has come to murder her queen," Artemis proclaimed. "Though I wish to call you an honorless cur, you are nothing but a reflection of my shame. The failures of the beast are the fault of the master. I should have broken you. Instead, I let myself be deceived by the glimmer of your talent."

"Knight?" I chuckled. "I suppose that is what I am. I have to thank you, Artemis. If you had not named me senshi, none of this would be mine." I spread my arms, gesturing to the walls and ceiling of the cathedral.

"This will never be yours, filthy Terran." Artemis drew her talwar. With sharp motions, she hacked apart her dress, leaving behind a knee length skirt. "Low born hands would soil these works. This hall was made for nobility. Be grateful, wretch, for what I have granted."

"And to whom will this pass when you are dead, Artemis?" I gave a nasty smirk. "That's right. I am the next Director of the Pretty Princess Institute. I am going to murder you and take everything you own."

"If you are ready, Ranma-kun," Setsuna interrupted.

"Huh." I blinked. "Oh. Go ahead. Send me in."

"Very well," Setsuna set a gloved hand on my shoulder. In a whisper, she added, "If at all possible, relieve Artemis of her shielding device."

"Gotcha."

The four emperors seal rippled like water. The glow of Setsuna's staff intensified. The world jerked. Suddenly, I was within the prison.

I wobbled. Artemis's arm snapped up. A silvery object was held within her right hand. My mind stuttered as it sought to grasp the evolving scene. _P-p-pew! P_-_pew_! Virulent, orange streaks stabbed out. I dodged.

A sizzling bullet burned my left cheek. Another brushed my shirt, blackening cloth. Gungnir snapped into position. The steel shaft absorbed two of the five shots. The haft heated by a hundred degrees. My palms sizzled. Plasma splattered when it hit the edge of the four emperor's seal.

_Click. Click_.

"Useless garbage." Artemis discarded her pistol. The metallic gun skittered across the ground. In a pair of thuds, Artemis's high-heeled court shoes joined it. The queen sank into a wide stance, the hilt of her talwar held in her left hand. "As I am merciful, I will grant upon you a chance to repent. Throw yourself at my feet, child, and beg forgiveness. In return, I will break you quickly."

"I refuse."

I opened with a thrust. A jolt ran through Gungnir's shaft. My spear pierced an invisible wall. Artemis's shield was soft and heavy. It felt as though I were stabbing sand. Gungnir's mass pushed through. The spear lost no more than fraction of its velocity.

_Cshink_. Steel clashed against steel. Artemis closed while beating Gungnir aside with Katengecchi. Her curved blade sliced towards my face. I parried.

_Cshink_. Metal rang again. I swirled my spear, this time with strength. My pole hit solidified air. Wind splashed like water, generating drag. I forced my way through. Gungnir's blade slashed across Artemis's legs. I whirled. A longer stroke threatened to slice her throat.

With effortless grace, Artemis floated back. Both blows were evaded by centimeters. Faster than I could blink, the queen reversed her momentum.

Katengecchi fluttered. Glittering arcs of silver tested my guard. With lightning parries, I deflected her strokes and pushed forward. The gap between us shrank into nothing. With no room left to swing, I slammed Gungnir's haft into Artemis's chest and shoved.

The Director stumbled back, her stocking clad feet slipping on the polished, granite floor. I challenged her weakness with a thrust. _Cshink._ Gungnir was deflected. Artemis's bearing was restored.

"You reject my clemency? Then know this, traitor. I have chosen for you a fitting fate." Artemis's royal voice was unblemished by the struggles of combat. Her talwar blurred, defeating strikes as through it were a wall. "First, Shizue shall rip out your heart. Then I shall give you to those disgusting old men you call senators. When become too soiled for their touch, I shall hand you to the dredges of society. You shall serve as a toy for the lowest of the low. A reminder to all who dare betray me that they, too, will reduced to an animal lower than a dog.

"But do not think, child, that you will know bliss. I shall take great care to preserve a piece of your soul. You will taste every shame, feel every degradation, and experience every moment of your ruin. Only when your cries cease and you cannot voice so much as a whimper will I grant you the mercy of death."

My lips curled. "You are vile," I said, voicing my disgust. "There are things no one should wish upon another."

I stabbed. With an arrogance born from skill, Artemis stood her ground. _Chink._ _Ch-ch-chink. _The Director drew her talwar into a whirl. Her spiraling weapon seamlessly deflected a torrent of thrusts. Step by step, the woman strode forward.

"I am Queen," she declared, imperiously. "On my brow rests the nation. My word is law. To defy it is spit upon the flag. A queen that allows such a travesty invites ruin. My sanctions must be met with terror. What you name evil is the fire that burns the wickedness from the hearts of men.

"Not that I expect you understand, child. You are a worm bound by blind morality. Your shallow kindness values only the lives set before you. When you save ten, a hundred die at the hands of your ignorance."

I gave ground. My spear slithered through the air. Thrust after thrust challenged Artemis's invincible guard. The queen beat them back, her pace never wavering.

"And let me guess, you would kill ten to save a hundred." I snorted. "Good and evil are not weighed on the same scale, Artemis. A murderer does not earn redemption by saving a life."

"What hypocrisy," Artemis retorted. "Is not the exchange of lives your justification for seeking my head, child? If you truly believe murder cannot be forgiven, throw down your spear."

With a crash, Artemis shredded my defense. Katengecchi flashed, cutting through air in an eerie silence. I stepped back. Steel kissed the front of my shirt, tearing fabric and drawing a line of blood. The upward stroke transformed into a beautiful, downward cut. The talwar smashed into my spear. The weight of the blow all but drove me to my knees. Artemis pressed down, trying to shatter my stance with raw force.

"I am not a fool. Enough lives can square any balance. But, unlike you, I recognize that those who kill rarely save a hundred. But the ten, Artemis, always die for sure."

I tilted my spear. _Shiinnk_. Katengecchi scrapped along Gungnir's shaft. I whirled to my left. My weapon whipped out. A mighty blow slammed into the Director's guard. Artemis slid a meter to the side.

"You project your ignorance, child," Artemis dismissed. "I have watched worlds rise and fall. I have seen kingdoms ground into dust. Terrans are wretched creatures. They are doomed to an endless cycle of petty war. Do not deny this. Your history is clear. The queen who refuses war receives it. The queen who conquers forges a thousands years of peace. Better to destroy this world once and be done with it."

"Even if this world needed a conquerer, it does not need you," I retorted. "When you talk, all I hear is hatred and spite. You speak of your subjects as though they should be grateful to be used and discarded. Chiyo is a monster. You are worse. She, at least, does not mistake selfishness for salvation."

I probed the queen's defense. Artemis remained serene. With relentless grace, she defeated my half-hearted thrusts.

"Tell me, child, what will you do to drag this world from its brink?" Artemis demanded.

"Nothing," I answered without hesitation.

"Nothing? And you dare to criticize me?"

With sudden fury, Artemis advanced. Her sword became silver light. Each stroke held such power that Gungnir rattled in my hands. I backpedaled, my spear whirling to keep up.

_Shing!_ Artemis pushed too hard. Katengecchi slipped through Gungnir's wall and fell into my trap. With a sudden twist, I forced her weapon up and away. The end of my spear smashed into the woman's ribs. The Director's lungs emptied. I seized the opening. Gungnir became a hurricane. With sweeping slashes, I drove the gasping queen back.

"Anointing yourself savior of the world? That is nothing but conceit," I countered. "You are Director of the Pretty Princess Institute. Your job begins and ends with this school. You want to do more? Fine. But you don't get to the dictate the terms. You don't get to choose our path forward. And you certainly don't have the right to decide who lives and who dies."

_Bang!_

Gungnir crashed into the ground. Granite shattered beneath my heavy spear. Like a ghost, Artemis faded around my attack. Then she was on me. Katengecchi sliced down. I jumped back, clearing two meters in my rush. Steel met flesh. Warm blood spilled from my shoulder.

Artemis flicked her wrist. A spray of crimson flew from Katengecchi's blade.

"You have seen these savages, child. You know they beigh like sheep, unable to choose their fate. Their leaders are swine, greedy mongrels that think themselves wolves. If we do not choose for them, who will?" Artemis sneered. "But I do not need to justify myself. I am Artemis Serenity Silvervine. To choose life and death was my right by birth. Question my will as you wish, wretch, but know it is by my mercy that I save this world when it so clearly deserves destruction."

Artemis flashed forward, her talwar cutting a gorgeous arc. _Cshink_. I rolled my spear, diverting her lunge. We separated, reversing sides. I twirled. A lightning thrust threatened to skewer Artemis's heart. The woman leapt back. My spear's broad blade cut from her side a centimeter of flesh.

"The excuses of a corpse mean nothing to me," I said. I whirled Gungnir and circled the woman.

Artemis walked with me. She touched her bleeding ribs. The Director glanced at her fingers then dismissed the wound with a huff.

"A lucky stroke. Your ego exceeds your competence, child," Artemis chided. "I tire of these games. Exchanging words with a Terran is pointless. Your mind is too dull to see the truth. I will teach your body instead. I will show it how meaningless it is to challenge a millennia of mastery with a mere decade of experience."

The tension in the room shifted. For all the ferocity, the blows we had traded were nothing more than a warm up. The clash of steel had shown us our limits. We now knew how the seal suppressed our strength. We had learned the depth of our techniques.

The game had ended.

In an instant, the Director claimed the offense. She dived forward, Katengecchi dancing through the air like a heavenly light. Artemis's skill was peerless. My heart stilled at its beauty. For all my life, I had dreamed of the day that I too would wield an art so sublime.

I met her steel with my own. Gungnir span in my hands, my mastery made crude when faced by Artemis's perfection. Her swordsmanship was strong yet subtle. The clean strokes generated an undeniable force. The impossible gravity wrenched my guard apart. Katengecchi flashed through the gap, seeking my throat.

_Cshing. _Pain cut through my neck. With Gungnir's haft, I shoved the talwar aside. Blood oozed from the wound. A millimeter deeper and my artery would have been severed.

The queen retreated, stunned by her failure.

"A millennia of mastery? I can believe it. Cologne has nothing on you," I replied. I held Gungnir with cool confidence as I stalked the woman. "But, how many years has it been since you have swung that sword, Artemis? A hundred? A thousand? Like a legendary weapon left in the rain, you are all rusted up. It does not matter how great you were back then. Right now, even common steel would break you in half."

I attacked.

For all her perfection, Artemis possessed a fatal flaw. When forced to shift between combinations, she suffered an instant of confusion. Her swordsmanship was dull. The Director had not fought a real battle since the day of her imprisonment. My skill, on the other hand, was razor sharp.

Mercilessly, I capitalized on her weakness. My spear betrayed no elegance. With brutal swings, I battered her guard. With crushing thrusts, I forced her back. I placed chaos above efficiency. Patternless strokes confused her senses while heavy blows challenged her strength. Under Gungnir's weight, her sword wavered. Her movements became stilted. Mistakes compounded into errors.

Without warning, I switched styles. Force became grace. With incredible lightness, Gungnir slipped past the hilt of Artemis's sword. In a silent flash, the blade cut across her left wrist. Tendons were severed. With a cry, Artemis fell back, her talwar loose within her grip.

I lunged into the opening.

The shorter range limited Gungnir's use as a spear. I wielded it like a staff. The haft exploded up. The spear's blunt end crashed into Artemis's chest. A fumbled parry spared the Director's rips at the cost of her balance. I reversed my twirl. Gungnir cut low, sweeping Artemis's legs out from underneath her. The queen fell. I finished my twist and stabbed down.

_Chink!_

Gungnir's blade pierced the granite floor. At the last second, Artemis rolled to the side. The queen swung her right hand. A line of beads flew from her sleeve and wrapped Gungnir's shaft. I jerked the spear from the earth and stepped back. Artemis's whip refused to loosen.

The beads crackled. Blue light burst along their length. _K-zap!_ Lightning discharged. Gungnir's steel shaft channeled the current. Muscles contracted. My body jumped. I stumbled back in a spasm. The stench of burnt flesh and ozone tickled my nose.

Artemis pulled herself to her feet. With the jerk of her arm, she wrenched Gungnir from my dazed hands. Through some invisible force, Artemis's rosary reeled my weapon in.

"I underestimated you, child," Artemis said, plucking my spear from the floor. "But do not be so presumptuous as to think you have won."

The beads unwound, slipping into the sleeve of Artemis's gown. The queen turned. With sudden motion, she hurled my spear at the wall of the four emperors seal. Gungnir's blade pierced invisible space. The barrier shivered. With a clatter, the weapon was sucked into the air then sent spinning toward the ceiling. There it remained, twirling end over end, well out of reach.

"What the hell?" I asked, staring in confusion.

"Do not be surprised, child. What you see is the gap our experience," Artemis said. The Director adjusted her grip on Katengecchi. Rivulets of blood dribbled off the sword's edge. "Blades of great power can cut the veil. But, if they do, the flow will drag the weapon into the space between. Your spear is lost, and you with it."

The Director tested her arm with a trio of light swings. I watched with a keen eye. Artemis held the talwar in her injured left hand. The tendons were cut. Her lower two fingers were unable to grip. The play of Artemis's sword would be reduced. So too would be speed of her stroke and the timing of her recovery.

But was it by enough? There was only one way to find out.

I lunged forward. Katengecchi blurred in answer. A silver crescent split the sky. I slipped under the stroke, the steel blade shaving dark hairs from my head. I floated up. My fist smashed into Artemis's chin.

Her head rocked back. I crushed her nose with a cross, dizzying her further. Artemis struggled to bring her talwar to bear. I pummeled her head, beating it from side to side. The Director caught my shirt and threw me back. Katengecchi flashed with finality.

Too slow.

I seized her arm, rolled under the limb, then broke it at the elbow. _Ca-clank_. Steel clattered to the ground. Katengecchi was freed from Artemis's grasp.

The queen twisted. Her broken arm bent the wrong way. Her shocking disregard caught me flat footed. A vicious hook smashed into my temple. I reeled. Two jabs hammered my face. My guard snapped up. A heavy fist was beaten aside. I dipped low, pounding Artemis's ribs with brutal body blows.

Steel flashed. That was all the warning I had. A small knife cut across my neck. By some miracle, I leaned back in time. My blunder left me off balance. While I struggled to right myself, Artemis plunged the dagger into my gut. A ruthless twist released an explosion pain.

Artemis jerked only to find that her weapon was stuck. With both hands, I held the dagger's hilt. I growled and slammed my right heel into the Director's instep. The bones in Artemis's foot shattered. Her grip loosened. I drove my knee into her groin.

At the same time, Artemis smashed her forehead into my face.

Both of us stumbled back. The knife was with me. I gripped the weapon with my right hand and ripped it from my belly. I howled. Pain blinded me. For a second, I wobbled. Then I found myself. Holding the knife as though it were a sword, I charged.

Artemis adjusted her profile. Her mangled left arm hung uselessly at her rear. Her solid right was raised to intercept. I slashed. With perfect form, Artemis caught my wrist. She span, twisting so that my back was to her. I allowed myself to be led and flicked the dagger from right to left.

With a backhand, I stabbed. Artemis had a bare moment's warning. Amazingly, the woman leaned back. Instead of plunging into her temple, the dagger gouged out an eye. With furious anger, the woman kicked me away.

I pitched forward only to be dragged back. Artemis's rosary was coiled around my neck. With a broad swing, the queen plucked me from the ground then threw me across the room. My back slammed into the wall of the four emperors seal. I forced my fingers through the loop of beads. I drank air. Darkness faded from the edge of my vision. My blood flow was restored.

_K-zap!_ Lightning discharged a second time. Unwittingly, I screamed. My body flopped across the ground in an uncontrolled seizure. The rosary peeled from cooked flesh. The chain retracted. The beads wrapped around Artemis's arm and vanished beneath her dress.

I shook the cobwebs from my head and pushed myself to my knees. Blood poured from my wound. With my left hand, I pressed against it. The flow barely slowed.

Artemis had struggles of her own. The queen nursed her left eye. A river of red ran over her arm, painting it crimson. Artemis pulled her hand back and scowled. With an angry gesture, the she drew a circle in empty air. Her rosary formed a floating coil of beads. The string connecting them vanished.

"Be proud, child. In all my battles, you are this first to have driven me this far," Artemis proclaimed. "In honor of your strength, I will slay you here and now. Thank me for my mercy and die."

The beads vanished. Air cracked. A dozen supersonic bangs echoed through the cathedral. The invisible spears hit a wall of wind and refracted. For a brief second, a barrier shimmered around me.

I smirked.

"Missing something?" I asked. I tossed Artemis's shielding device and caught it in my open hand.

"You," Artemis spoke with trembling anger. "You stole from me?"

I snorted and clipped the rectangular device to my belt. Setting a hand against the wall of the four emperors seal, I dragged myself to my feet. Dizziness assaulted me.

"In case you missed it, I am trying to murder you," I spat. I switched Artemis's dagger from my left hand to my right. I fingered the grip. "Now, let's finish-"

Ruby light flashed. The universe grabbed my innards and dragged me toward some other space. The world whirled around me. Desperately, I tried to make sense of my surroundings. I swung my head. Sudden vertigo dropped me to my knees. My gut bent. Pain exploded.

"You okay, kid?" Hikaru asked.

I looked to my left. The blond haired man squatted at my side. Confusion gave way to understanding. I was outside the four emperors seal. Setsuna had pulled me from the Thunderdome.

"I feel like hell," I grumbled.

"And you look like to too," Hikaru quipped.

I struggled to stand. Hikaru's arms slipped under mine. The older man helped me up then dragged me toward a hunk of bench. I sat with a huff.

"You know, I was going to yell at you for dragging me out," I muttered. "Now I am thinking, good timing on the gong, coach."

Hikaru chuckled. "You certainly got the shit kicked out of you, kid. But, as far as I can tell, you gave as good as you got." Hikaru set a roll of gauze at my side. "Now let's get you patched up before the ref calls a TKO."

With a grunt, I raised my arms. Hikaru peeled the cotton shirt from my chest. I cast my gaze toward Setsuna. The green haired woman stood a few paces away. In a quiet voice, she conferred with Uranus. The blond senshi nodded in response to Setsuna's words, her face grim.

"Well damn," Hikaru noised. "That is a nasty piece of work you got there, kid. You aren't going to die on me, are you?"

I glanced down. The knife had cut a sickening wound in my gut. The brutal twist had shredded my intestines. The external bleeding was bad. The internal bleeding was worse. I had, maybe, half-an-hour before I bled out. I crunched the numbers in my head. I was good for another fifteen minutes of combat. After that it was tenki or death.

"Wrap it up," I ordered. "Artemis is in nasty shape too. I will finish her before the end of the second round."

"That will not be necessary, Ranma-kun," Setsuna interjected. A few short steps brought her to our side. "Now that Artemis's shield has been removed, a more expedient tactic is available." The green haired woman nodded to her companion. "If you would."

_Thunk._ A heavy, metal trunk thudded against the granite floor. Uranus knelt in front of the briefcase, unlocking it with a tiny key. She rotated the container while popping the lid. Nestled in a bed of foam were a dozen hand grenades.

Hikaru let out a low whistle at the sight. "Now that's some firepower," Hikaru said, giving an appreciative nod. "How the hell did you get your hands on those?"

"I called in a favor," Setsuna answered. She looked at her fuku wearing companion. "Prepare them, please. I will teleport the explosives in two at a time."

"Cowards!" Artemis shrieked. "You dare to kill me with such vulgar tactics?"

Artemis pressed against the edge of her cage. The queen glared, her lone right eye a deadly scythe. Setsuna did not so much as flinch. Instead, she evoked an arcane phrase. Her garnet orb glimmered with internal fire. Uranus pulled the pins. Setsuna tapped her key shaped staff. The metal eggs vanished.

_Boom!_ The cathedral shook. A dusty cloud enveloped the interior of the seal. Particles slipped through the barrier's wall. Hacking coughs were heard within. Somehow, Artemis had survived. The queen pulled herself to her feet.

Setsuna had no pity. _Boom!_ Two more grenades detonated. With a frozen heart, the green haired woman prepared a third round.

"Hold!" Artemis shouted.

_Boom!_ The cathedral shuddered again, silencing Artemis's cries.

"I said hold you curs!"

Setsuna stopped her chant. The woman's garnet eyes focused on the prison. Artemis trembled. The queen was on hands and knees. All that remained of her elegant dress were scraps. Her exposed skin was a sickening sight. Her flesh had been flayed by metal fragments. Sparkling shrapnel shimmered in the light of the chandeliers.

"I will offer no quarter, Artemis," Setsuna said evenly.

The Director staggered to her feet. The queen stiffened her spine and adopted royal poise. How much pain did she endure for the sake of pride? The image sent shivers down my back. For a second, I caught a glimpse of Artemis at her height. A skill surpassing Cologne's. A power akin to a god's. A legendary sword on par with Gungnir. An unshakable will as mighty as my own.

Artemis had claimed that she had won wars for her realm. I believed it. Knowing what I did of her strength, I imagined that some of those wars had been won _singlehandedly._

How did we defeat such a monster?

"I am Artemis Serenity Silvervine," the Director declared. "By blood and station, I demand my final right."

"I see," Setsuna mused. She turned to face me. "Ranma-kun, Artemis requests that you behead her. I leave the choice to you. Entering is not without risk. However, I believe Artemis's wish is genuine."

I studied Artemis. The queen stood in ridged silence. Around her hung an air of unbreachable authority. Through sheer force of will, she denied even death.

Should I execute this woman? The decision weighed upon me. Slaying Artemis in battle was easy. Killing her when helpless was hard. I was not a judge. I was a warrior. Crossing that invisible line left me feeling sick and uneasy. Executing Artemis was too close to murder.

No. I was lying to myself. Murder was exactly what this was. And murder was what it had always been. Naming this conflict a fight was a falsehood. I had come here intending to kill Artemis. That was my resolution. Taking her head was my duty.

I stood. My body sang a serenade of pain. I stayed stalwart. Artemis endured worse.

"I will do it."

Setsuna nodded. In a low voice, she started her chant. While Setsuna worked her magic, I placed the shielding device in Hikaru's hands.

"If she tries anything, don't hesitate," I warned.

Hikaru frowned. With a grimace, he slipped the box into his pocket. "I am not promising anything, kid. But, I can tell you this. Artemis is not walking out of here alive."

I set a hand on the man's shoulder. "That is all I am asking for."

I stepped forward. The four emperors seal shimmered softly in the candlelight. I closed my eyes and gathered my strength. When I opened them again, my soul was as hard as diamond.

"Send me in."

The garnet ball flashed. The world jerked. I was in the Thunderdome.

_Ca-clank._ Katengecchi rattled at my feet. I looked at Artemis. The queen watched in silence. I scooped the silver sword from the ground. Light played over the talwar's steel, revealing the crimson stains left eons ago by the demon god Ginmusaboru.

"Child," Artemis spoke. Her voice reigned over the silence. "Who will you serve when my kingdom has fallen?"

I circled the queen, taking care as I approached. Artemis was caked in blood, but beneath that vision of weakness was unyielding strength. I would be a fool to die here.

"I bend my knee for no one," I answered. "You should know that by now, Artemis."

"You are senshi, child," Artemis rebuked. "So you have named yourself. So you must be to have gathered the support of my knights." Artemis's head twisted. Her right eye impaled my heart. "By taking that title, you have sworn an oath to serve. Do not shirk your obligations, child. I demand an answer. To whom you will hand all that I have wrought?"

I whirled Katengecchi, testing its play. My duty was to serve? I snorted. Artemis was right, though not in the way she imagined.

"As you have said, I am senshi," I replied. My voice was strong and my will unshaken. "But you are mistaken if you think I must bow. Those who rule and those who serve can be one and the same. I will be Director of the Pretty Princess Institute. I will claim all you have wrought. And I will do so to serve the Institute itself.

"I will change this school, Artemis. I will show my girls how to stand tall. I will teach them the meaning of strength and justice. And when they leave, their parents, their friends, and their nation will look upon them with pride. That is my conviction."

"You speak with force, child, fitting of my successor," Artemis replied. "Better for you to swear yourself to Hecate's princess. She, at least, has royal blood. But a knightly order bears no shame." Artemis paused. "Terran, though you are a traitorous wretch, you are still my senshi. Thus I pass upon you a command I forbid you to refuse. Wear my crown as your sigil and uphold virtue worthy of the silver moon.

"Now take my head. Your queen demands it."

I raised Katengecchi. Compared to Gungnir, the sword was light. Yet, the talwar dragged at my hand. I felt within it the weight of two lives. When I swung, Artemis would die. At the same time, my future would change. I would be director. Duty would bind me. Once chained, I would never escape.

But doubt was gone. I was resolved.

A silver crescent cut the sky. I was taken by the beauty of it. All nations are forged in blood and iron. Those were the words the father of the first Serenity passed to his daughter. Now, with the same sword, I ended Artemis's nation and gave birth to my own.

_Thud_. The Director's head hit the floor. A crimson pool stained the polished granite.

I let out a long breath, then approached the severed skull. I knelt at the side of the dead queen, the first and only time I bowed before Artemis. Gently, I removed the diamond encrusted circlet. It shimmered in my hands, reminding me of a tiara.

A fitting burden. I placed the crown upon my head. A thin, crescent moon, rested against my brow. The four emperors seal faded around me.

I smelled cinnamon.

I whirled. The wind whispered. Katengecchi cut through empty air. An ethereal mass slammed into the silver blade. Air snapped in two. The walls of the cathedral exploded.

_Ca-clank._ Freed from the barrier, Gungnir hit the ground beside me. I did not give it glance. My eyes were pinned to Chiyo. The devilish girl held a candy axe in her extended hand.

"Oops," Chiyo said with false innocence. "In all the excitement, my hand slipped."

The cathedral began to rise. Uranus and Neptune placed themselves at Setsuna's side. Syaoran pulled three ofuda from his robes. Hikaru cocked his shotgun. Fumio formed swords of ice. Chiyo's servants glanced about in terror. Apparently, their mistress had neglected to share her plot.

I embraced tenki.

Haigeki hit in a shock wave. Lava poured into my veins then crashed into a frigid lake. Shuken twisted my form. My organs squirmed. My curse activated. Womanhood was a welcome bliss. Pain ceased and my transformation flowed freely. My blood soaked shirt puffed into a sparkling dress. My short, dark hair stretched into long, pink locks.

Chiyo giggled. Her axe vanished. With two flouncing steps, she crossed the distance. The girl threw herself at me. I froze, confused by the mixed signals. Chiyo's arms wrapped my waist. Her soft breasts pressed into my own. She breathed. Her pink lips and cloying scent tantalized seduction.

"Don't worry, Ranma-chan," Chiyo cooed. "I am not stupid enough to fight you here."

I jerked back, struggling to free myself from Chiyo's grasp. Still clamped on, the girl gleefully swung to my left. The tight embrace shifted my intestines. I grimaced then glared.

"If you don't want a fight, that was a poor way to show it," I growled.

It was tempting to answer Chiyo's assault with my own. But that would be foolish. I was tired and worn. Hikaru's crew was hurt. Still, we had an advantage in numbers. If Chiyo and I threw down here, she would die for sure. But the cost of that victory would be higher than I was willing to bear.

"Oh Ranma-chan," Chiyo sang in sweet reproval. "I knew you would not die something like from that. I just wanted to put you in the proper mood."

"And what mood is that?" I snapped.

"This one."

With shocking speed, Chiyo swung to my front. Her lips pressed against mine. Cherries and cinnamon invaded my mouth. Then, just as quickly, Chiyo withdrew. The girl swirled on her heels then skipped a few steps back. She offered a wicked smile.

"Don't forget me Ranma-chan, because I won't forget you. Someday, I will come for my Institute. And when I do, I will give you a choice. Enemies or lovers." Chiyo's chocolate eyes turned sly. Her gaze slid in the direction of the sandy haired blond. "Of course, if I am not enticing enough, Hikaru could join in on the fun. I don't like boys, but watching him take your virginity sounds absolutely delicious."

"Please leave me out of this conversation," Hikaru complained.

With a toe, I hooked Gungnir. I flipped the spear into my open hand. "I would request the same, but I doubt Chiyo would listen." I glared at the girl. "You have said your part. Leave."

"So nasty," Chiyo retorted. She danced her way to the cathedral door. She giggled, her lips spreading in a malicious smile. "But I have seen your heart, Ranma-chan. We both know that behind that rough exterior is a sweet little doll begging to be conquered."

With a final laugh, she was gone.

-oOo-

**Triva:**

**Sanzu River** – A Japanese Buddhist myth very much akin to the River Styx. It is believed that the dead must cross the Sanzu River to reach the afterlife. Seen in many comedic anime/manga scenes often with the friends crying in the background: "don't cross the river!"

**Katengecchi** [lit. flowers blooming in moonlight] – The legendary sword given to Serenity the first by her father after the founding of the Moon Kingdom. This is the talwar shown to Ranma in chapter 6.

**TKO** – Technical Knock Out. In boxing, a technical knock out is most often called because the fighter is in no condition to safely continue the fight.


	13. Those Who Hunt Monsters

**Beta reader:** obsidian_fox

-oOo-

**Chapter 13: Those Who Hunt Monsters**

-oOo-

The door opened. With nary a whisper, Emiko stepped into my office.

I did not look up. My eyes were pinned to the chaos strewn across my mahogany desk. Dozens of papers littered the surface. Tiny, machine printed letters assaulted my eyes. Faint traces of ink stained my flesh.

With undaunted diligence, I shuffled through the mess.

Where did I put that damn thing? I flipped through the scattered reports. Notes and records were shoved aside. There, buried beneath an eighty page budget report, was the Institute's master list.

My best friend. My worst enemy. Contained within the thick volume were the names, pictures, and profiles of the four-hundred persons who had caught the Institute's interest. In here was the whole of the Institute's population. So too were recorded all who escaped Artemis's reign and those who had opposed it.

I was in here. Hikaru was in here. Even Hecate, and a dozen of her aliases, was captured within.

In the days following Artemis's fall, the master list had become my ally. If I were to meet someone, I would open this book and learn their abilities, personality, and background. The list offered an introduction. Often, that was enough. If I needed more, I could access the Institute's archives.

"Saotome-sama," Emiko called quietly.

I gestured for silence. An endless sea of pages whipped passed my eyes. I searched the depths, reading the headings as I sought a name.

And there it was. Shit.

I scowled. My glower deepened when I scanned the fax sent by the Ministry of Justice a second time.

_Thud!_ The volume slammed closed. With a frustrated sigh, I dropped my head into an open palm. My thumb and forefinger rolled over my brow. The kneading pressure drilled into my skull but failed to halt my brewing headache.

"Saotome-sama," Emiko queried again. "Kuonji-san is here to see you."

"Ucchan?" I murmured.

I glanced up, blinking to clear my bleary vision. Damn I was tired. I had closed my eyes for just a second and already the vapors of sleep had crept up on me. My nights had been thin. I was operating on a bare four hours. That, in itself, was not enough to put me down. But days of shorted rest added up.

Given the mess I had inherited, it was not about to get better anytime soon.

"Yes, Saotome-sama," Emiko answered.

The green vested knight waited at the entrance of the room. An antique suit of armor flanked her on the left. To her right was an heirloom chair.

We were in Artemis's office. My office. It had not changed a bit. A pair of tall shelves were at my back, filled with musty books and ancient knowledge. Elegant paintings decorated the ornate walls, featuring towering turrets and alien landscapes. A collection of relics were sealed behind glass, the contents of which would make an anthropologist green with envy.

And all of it was mine.

Lacking was any personal touch. My zone of influence ended with my desk. Reports were scattered over the top. An empty tea cup and its platter secured a uncovered portion of wood. Artemis's death, and the madness that followed, allowed time for little more. People, politics, and paperwork were devouring my life.

"Tell her to come back later," I ordered. "The cops snagged a Kei Enoki at Tokyo International Airport. From the looks of it, she is one of ours. Grab Akina for me. Tell her to drag that brat into my office so I can strangle her."

"And who is strangling who now?"

Ukyou pushed her way into my office. The brown haired chef glanced around the room, taking in the decadent elegance. I offered an annoyed look, but my irritation did little to dissuade her.

"Wow. So this is where my tax dollars have been going," Ukyou disparaged. "I might be in the wrong line of work." She paused for a moment, considering the portal behind me. "You might want to reconsider the window, Ranchan. It is a bit on the pretentious side."

Towering, stained glass loomed over my back. Beams of colored light flowed through the aperture, casting the semblance of Artemis's seal upon the carpeted floor. Set betwixt the brilliance, I appeared as a shadow. The room was tilted, and my seat high, creating a projection of power that dominated all who entered.

I took a moment to indulge in the theatrics by glaring at my friend. Struck by the atmosphere of authority, Ukyou squirmed.

"Everything here belonged to Artemis. Your taxes paid for none of it," I proclaimed. My harsh eyes fell on the chef. "I am busy, Ucchan. Can this wait?"

My words shook Ukyou from her stupor. The girl grabbed a chair and dragged it toward my desk.

"Busy?" Ukyou scoffed. The brown haired girl dropped into her seat. "And were you busy yesterday? How about the day before that? You have been brushing me off all week, Ranchan."

"And I have been busy all week," I snapped back. I let out a frustrated growl. "Do you want to know what I did yesterday? Do you, Ucchan? Well, I will tell you. I got the joy of being locked in a room with the Prime Minster for twelve hours straight. Yeah. That's right. I got to listen to a bunch of old men yap at each other for an entire day.

"And that is not the worst of it. I am buried to my neck in paperwork. Angry parents are sending letters. Idiot reporters are trying to break into the Institute. And a dumb girl was just caught attempting to hop a plane to-" I grabbed the Ministry of Justice fax, scowled at its contents, then threw it back on my desk. "-South Korea."

The clank of porcelain ended my tirade. I snagged the tea cup Emiko had set upon my desk. The steaming liquid poured down my throat. Scalding pain did nothing to relieve my displeasure.

"Take a break, Ranchan," Ukyou commanded. Her stern eyes were unrelenting. "You can't solve everything. And you will kill yourself trying."

"Believe me, you don't have to tell me that," I grumbled. I leaned back in my chair, a long breath slipping from my lungs. "But I can't rest yet, Ucchan."

I stared into my cup. Transparent, green ripples rolled over the steaming surface.

My feelings were in flux. I was Director of the Pretty Princess Institute, but I had no choice but to trust my organization. I was too green to take charge. Even if I had the necessary experience, it was impossible to singlehandedly control an organization of two hundred.

So, I delegated. The senshi were given operational authority. I did not fear betrayal. Kamiko, Michiko, and Akina were loyal. They were not just allies. They were loving sisters. If I stumbled, they would pick me up. If an enemy attacked, they would serve as my shield. If I asked, they would surely lift my burden.

But, while I did not doubt their faith, I questioned their motives. Artemis was dead. Her machine was not. Her monstrous Institute lived on through all the processes and methods Artemis had devised. Like a bomb, it had to be dismantled piece by piece and wire by wire.

Until that was done, there could be no leisure. The hungry demon had to die, then its ghost exorcised. Nothing less was acceptable.

Ukyou broke the silence. "So, what is this about airplanes?"

"Tenki is classified. Magical girls are military assets," I elucidated. "Crossing the border without official approval is considered an act of espionage. By legal mandate, the Pretty Princess Institute is compelled to enforce such provisions." I took a shallow sip from my cup. "Kei Enoki tried to cross the border without prior approval. She broke the law. It is as simple as that."

Ukyou frowned. "Can you blame her?" she asked softly. "You know what Artemis did, Ranchan. Kei was probably scared. Anyone in right in their mind would be. Hell, when I heard that Kamiko was still at the top, I wondered if maybe I ought to vanish as well."

I understood Ukyou's point. To a degree, I agreed with it. The girls of the Institute did not know me. But they knew my senshi plenty well. For most of them, that would be enough. The fact I was keeping Artemis's organization intact would damn me in their eyes. They would not stop to hear my message. To them, I was Artemis by another name.

And trust, once lost, was hard to reclaim.

Yet Kei had broken the law. Whether or not I empathized with her position was meaningless. I was obligated to carry out my duties as Director. If I continually refused to do so, the Prime Minister would strip me of my position, threat of internal war or no.

"I don't blame her," I replied. "But I don't have a whole lot of sympathy either. Idiots like Kei make my job harder. I am already having a hell of a time negotiating amnesty for the girls Hikaru saved. And don't get me started on my promise to Cologne." I shook my head and returned my cup to its platter. "Do me a favor, Ucchan. If you ever get the urge to skip out of town, see me first and save us a world of heartache."

I closed my eyes and nursed a headache. Ukyou was right, I needed a break. The stress of this job was killing me.

"What does my schedule look like?" I asked, my eyes on Emiko.

"You have a meeting with the senshi in five minutes, Saotome-sama," Emiko answered politely. "Your tutoring session follows directly after. The rest of your day is open."

I snorted. Open. Now there was a misleading term. 'Open' implied nothing more than a lack of pressing obligations. Such periods were quickly consumed. I had paperwork. I had homework. I had training. I was split between the triple obligations of martial artist, student, and director. A few minutes here and there were all I could muster.

There was a reason I was running short on sleep.

"Tell Kamiko that I will see her in half-an-hour," I commanded.

Emiko curtsied. "As you wish, Saotome-sama." The knight swept out the door.

As she left, I stood. With one hand, I plucked a ribbon from my hair. The length unrolled, unleashing waves of pinkish-red.

The tenki carryover process had not slowed at all. Michiko's experiments may have ended, but mine had not. Tenki was the focus of my art. I trained while transformed. In spare moments, I practiced quick transitions. The repeated use of tenki was showing its effects.

My hair was growing impossibly fast. Two months ago, my locks had touched my shoulders. Today they brushed the small of my back. Soon a shimmering curtain of pink would reach my knees. My natural body was slowly shifting. In a year or two, my form would be permanently set to that of my transformation.

Fear had not fled. Resolve could not erase emotion. It merely suppressed it. But my path was set. I would be a magical girl. My duties as director demanded it. And so I would push forward and strive to be the strongest of them all.

"Okay, Ucchan. You've got my ears. Talk."

The brown haired girl shifted in her seat. "Thanks Ranchan. I will get straight to the point." Ukyou took a deep breath. "I am leaving."

I froze. My hand hovered over a pair of silver rings.

"Leaving?" I repeated. "What do you mean by that, Ucchan?"

Motion resumed. My fingers closed. Nerves buzzed when my flesh touched the cold, silver rings. Jeweled hair ornaments. Neural guides. The price of my directorship.

Even as Director, I was not free of Kamiko's tutelage. The guides were our compromise. The silver rings, capped with amethyst, were crafted from the same magic as the tiara. Once worn, they infiltrated my brain. There they generated soft pressure, encouraging the formation of habit. Though this mechanism, my mannerisms would be shaped into those of a well bred lady.

The guides were as much a convenience as anything. They spared Kamiko and I the needless hassle of etiquette training.

Unlike the tiaras, the neural guides were not a restraining device. I could don or doff them as I pleased. Further, I had say over the content of their software. Kamiko's embedded instructions were subject to my approval. I had abused that privilege with abandon, chopping away structures I did not agree with. At the same time, I had ordered Michiko to add a series of useful features.

Thanks to that, the guides were more a reward than a punishment. They improved my concentration, suppressed boredom, and had a mental kick stronger than a mug full of caffeine. While wearing my guides, I could roll through reams of dry government papers. I could sit through long, stuffy meetings. I could wear a polite smile while ignoring the sneers of sexist bastards. I could avoid murdering the entire Japanese Cabinet.

In essence, the guides let me do my job while retaining a semblance of sanity.

I was already an addict. It was only the stubborn insistence that I bull through my duties without a crutch that kept me from wearing them all the time.

"Yeah," Ukyou breathed. "I am leaving. Last week, I caught wind of a rumor that you were transferring schools. That was when I said to myself, Ucchan old buddy, maybe it is time for you to get off your ass and move on."

I frowned and gathered my hair into tufts. I clipped the ornaments in place. Magic pulsed. A buzzing sound filtered through my ears. The world sharpened. Weariness became distant. The throbbing pain in my head eased. With a feminine gesture, I brushed my ponytails back and retook my seat.

"If my transfer is the only issue, I can try and have you moved as well," I offered.

Ukyou snorted. "Don't bother. I did a little research into the place you are headed, Ranchan. Let me tell you, you are in for a real adventure taking classes in rich bitch girl's school like that."

The chef gave a wry smile. "Besides, I have been thinking about this for a while. I need to get away from Nerima, Ranchan. For the last ten years, I have been living my life as my father commanded. I want to move on, Ranchan. I want to find myself. I want to know who the real Ucchan is. And, no offense, I am not going to do while around you."

My expression fell. I wanted Ukyou to stay. My past was vanishing. Everything I knew was turning to dust. My manhood. My future. Now, my oldest friend. The world was turning. Time was passing. My friends were changing.

And so was I.

Part of me wished it would all stand still. But I could not deny Ukyou's feelings. I knew all too well how important it was to seek oneself.

"I will be sad to see you go," I said softly. "But if you need to leave, leave." I released a slow breath. "Can I at least know where you are heading?"

"Wherever the wind blows," Ukyou joked. The brown haired girl gave a helpless shrug. "I don't really have a destination set, Ranchan. I figured I would buy myself a cart and spend a year wandering up and down the coast."

"Sounds like fun," I said, my lips quirking in a smile.

"More fun than paperwork, that's for sure," Ukyou replied, glancing at my desk. "Though I bet it doesn't pay nearly as well." Ukyou's humor vanished. The girl took a deep breath and leaned forward. Her eyes were serious. "Ranchan, before I head out, answer me something. And don't hold back. Did I ever have a chance?"

I paused, closing my eyes for a moment. Ukyou deserved honesty.

"No."

My words were firm and lacked hesitation. I should have said it long ago. Ukyou was my fiancée. The betrothal had been arranged by our foolish fathers. In this case, Pop's stupidity was especially egregious. I had already been promised prior to Ukyou's engagement. But I could only blame part of the mess on him. My father begat the sin. I allowed it to fester. Two years ago, I had foolishly named Ukyou my 'cute fiancée'. The phrase had been intended as a joke.

Ukyou had taken it seriously.

And I could not claim ignorance. Her interpretation was made crystal clear in the months that followed. To my shame, I had done little to correct my miscommunication.

"I thought so," Ukyou said sourly. Hard, brown eyes cut across the table. "You shouldn't have strung me along, Ranchan," she accused. Ukyou held my gaze for a moment longer. Then her ire melted. "But I can't say I am not at fault too. I saw the writing on the wall. I just didn't want to read it."

"Ucchan," I appealed. "I might not think of you that way, but-"

"Don't start," Ukyou snapped. "I am willing to forgive you, Ranchan. But, even though I was expecting that answer, I am still pissed. I am sorry, but I think we are going to have to cut this meeting short."

Ukyou stood. Her chair skittered back. The chef's stormy visage faded when she caught my uneasy expression.

Ukyou's hands tensed into fists. She let out a tense growl before forcefully calming herself. "We are still buddies, Ranchan. I just need a little time to myself. That is all." Ukyou shook her head, as though clearing her thoughts. "Tell you what. I will swing by Tokyo a couple of months from now. We can talk then."

I gave a relieved smile. "I will see if I can fit you into my schedule," I quipped.

"You better," Ukyou said, glaring. "Because if you are still booked twenty-four-seven then, I swear I will knock your ass out and drag you off on a vacation."

"If Kamiko is still running me that ragged, I will need one," I griped. My shoulders slumped in relief. "Thanks Ucchan. You are a real friend." I paused then gestured to myself. "Though, with the way things are going, who knows what I will be like by then."

"You and me both, Sugar. My transformation is based on yours, remember?" Ukyou gave a sudden wink. "If it comes to that, we can go shopping for cute outfits together. That way you will be able to share all those fashion secrets you've gathered," she teased. The laughter drained from her brown eyes, leaving them dull in comparison. "Oh, and Ranchan, you need to talk to your parents. Yeah, I know, your father is an ass, like mine. But he is family. Don't burn bridges when you don't have to."

Upon hearing about my parents, I grimaced.

It had been two months since I had seen Mom and Pop. The war with the Institute had provided plenty of excuses. Now that I was Director of the Pretty Princess Institute, I was running out of them.

Pop, I was not worried about. Oh sure, the old bastard would yell up a storm. But, at the end of the day, Pop only cared that I mastered the art and married Akane Tendo. The first was a non-issue. It was the second that would prove troublesome.

Not that I was worried. I was fairly sure I could out stubborn my old man. And if that failed, the greedy bastard was easily bribed. With the all the zeros on my government paycheck, Genma's loyalty was as good as mine. If I so wished, I could have the old man singing praises about his beautiful daughter.

My mother was a more serious obstacle.

The seppuku contract was meaningless. That agreement was void the moment Nodoka had declared me a man amongst men. Even if the contract were in effect, there was nothing to compel my compliance. Nodoka could say what she wanted, but my old man and I were not the type to lay down and die.

No. What I feared for was our relationship. The bond between us was fragile. I had spent the better part of ten years training with Pop. I knew him well. But I had not seen my mother even once during that period.

I did not trust that her love was unconditional.

Exasperating that fear was the fact that Nodoka was a traditionalist. For her, gender roles were not custom but a sacred obligation. The contract had ended. Nodoka's expectations had not. I wanted her approval. To get it, I had to be a man amongst men. And here I was, a lady, a princess, a leader of an organization symbolizing womanhood.

Any meeting between us would be contentious. To sway my mother, I would be forced to evoke honor.

And that was what I feared most. If Nodoka capitulated, she would be quick to insist that I uphold honor by becoming a woman amongst women. Nodoka had old school mores. Her concept of womanhood would make me long for Kamiko's structured etiquette and Akina's feminine ideals.

In theory, I could take a stand. But what child holds such monstrous strength that they can ignore a mother's disappointed glare?

_Shudder._

"I will talk to them," I said, not bothering to hide my distaste.

"Don't say it, Ranchan. Do it." My old friend stood and offered a soft smile. "And Ranchan, take care."

-oOo-

It had been two weeks since Artemis's death. The Institute's final battle had been impossible to hide. A firestorm of media criticism had followed in its wake. Political maneuvering had reached an all time high. The opposition had its knives out. The government was spinning half-truths so fast it left me dizzy. And, to top it off, the so called news was grinding away the few kernels of truth, transforming them into a circus fit only to entertain the public.

There was not a scrap of honesty to be found anywhere.

And I was grateful for it.

The official line was that Artemis Serenity Silvervine died while instigating a coup. To back government's fable, I had been forced to provide a list of 'perpetrators'. Chiyo was now designated public enemy number one. Her servants had joined her in infamy. The remainder of those disgraced had been conveniently dead, thereby sparing the living from a fevered witch hunt.

The incessant scapegoating disgusted me. Innocent names were being dragged through the mud. Shame would be heaped upon their families, for in Japan, the mark of dishonor did not stop at the doorstep of the dead.

But I was no fool. Truth was stranger than fiction. Who would believe a such contrived tale? Mind control? Brainwashing? Even to me it sounded like a series of lies conjured up to evade all blame. If fed reality, the public would be quick to call it fraud and demand the heads of half the Institute.

Feelings were irrelevant. My first duty was to the living. It was they who I had to guard. I was inexperienced. I would not win my first foray into politics if I fought on uneven ground. But that would change. I might never master the art of manipulation, but I would devote myself to learning.

Next time, I would avoid dirtying my hands. Better yet, I would escape a 'next time' entirely.

"Director Saotome," Kamiko greeted.

We were gathered in the meeting hall. It was a broad room, lit by a crystal chandelier. A dark, wooden table filled the room's center, ringed by a dozen chairs. Like my office, the meeting hall was situated in the rich wing of the Institute. This space, hidden behind the cathedral, was the sole part of the PPI that had survived the fighting intact.

I nodded toward Kamiko. The hawk eyed woman took her seat. With her arrival, all my senshi were present.

"Sorry for the disruption."

Akina's ruby lips curved into a smile. The violet haired woman leaned back in her chair. "Now, now, Saotome, a director needs not apologize to her subjects."

"Please do not encourage such abuses, Akina," Kamiko countered. "A chaotic schedule only serves to impose greater inefficiency."

"And who is working our poor, little kohai to death?" Akina retorted. "Even an invincible beast needs to rest. If you ask me, Saotome should invoke her authority more often."

"Then it is fortunate that I am the one to set the standards for professionalism," Kamiko replied. Dismissing her companion, Kamiko turned her hazel eyes on me. "That aside, Akina is quite right about one thing. Between your duties as director and your duties as a student, you have allowed yourself little time for leisure."

My hackles rose. We had argued this before, and I would not tolerate Kamiko's scolding.

"My training time is non-negotiable," I shot back.

Hazel eyes continued their challenge. I stared Kamiko down. My schedule was tight. My duties as director were numerous and pressing. But those obligations changed nothing. There were things I would not give up. My art was one of them.

"I am not asking you to surrender your hobby, Director Saotome. I am merely suggesting that you put your training aside until your duties are less trying."

"Non-negotiable," I repeated. I glared at the woman.

Kamiko sighed. "I see this argument is going nowhere." The psychiatrist glanced at her clipboard. Her finger dribbled on the table as she scanned through her notes. "Very well. Let us begin. Michiko, I believe you have made progress on the census?"

The blond haired scientist shifted her glasses.

"Affirmative," Michiko agreed. "Seventy-four percent of the Institute is currently registered. That is a twelve present increase from last week. An additional seven percent have presented themselves but refuse to provide a primary residence. The whereabouts of the other forty-six girls remains unknown."

When Artemis fell, a full half of the Institute vanished. At the time, I had cheered. To me, it had been an uplifting symbol of sanity. If the girls were wise enough to run, then the damage was not as terrible as I had feared.

The Prime Minister had disagreed. He saw chaos, disorder, anarchy. The lack of control was an affront to his rule. The scattered girls served as a lever for his political opponents. An easy way to score points on a defensive administration.

We had butted heads over the issue. A standoff ensued. The Prime Minister personally ordered me to round up my minions. In less than stellar moment, I had told him exactly where he could shove that command. The fight had been short lived. The next day, two-hundred-and-forty-seven arrest warrants were set on my desk. One for every girl that had served the Institute.

In unspoken words, the Prime Minister had delivered his ultimatum. Do as I say, or I will dismiss you.

Backed into a political corner, I was forced to bow my head. But arresting my girls was something I refused to do. So I conjured up an alternate solution. All the missing girls were to be placed under 'house arrest'. A largely meaningless designation. The only obligation required was that each girl list her primary residence and report in on a monthly basis.

Thus had started the census. The first fifty girls were easily found. A shocking percentage of those that went missing had fled to their former homes and families. The rest had made themselves scarce. They had been burned before. Few were willing to trust their fate to the Institute.

"If Kei Enoki is not listed, you can add her to those who refuse to register," Akina interjected. The idol looked at me, her violet eyes twinkling. "So tell me, Saotome. Do you wish to strangle her yourself? Or do you want me to do it on your behalf?"

"Drag her into my office. I am a hands on kind of gal," I said, flashing a smile. My mirth vanished into grim consideration. "What have we heard about Chiyo?"

Chiyo Mori, the biggest existential threat to the Institute. She had reappeared on my radar eight days ago when an idiot cop had tried to bring her in. Chiyo had killed him. Then, to make a point, she had obliterated an entire police station. As a final act to mock my authority, Chiyo had the audacity to flash her pretty smile on the evening news.

Fortunately, the wrong audience had been listening.

Thanks to Setsuna, Juban's senshi had sat out the Institute's war. With Artemis dead, Setsuna's manipulations had ended. When Chiyo had called for my attention, she had received that of Sailor Moon. A series of skirmishes between the Juban's senshi and Chiyo had wracking the capital for the past week. Last I had heard, Sailor Moon had driven Chiyo into hiding.

"Defense Intelligence thinks Chiyo is in China, but the Public Security Intelligence Agency still has her in the country," Akina answered seriously. "But knowing that girl, she won't stay hidden for long."

"If the Chinese want her, let them choke on her," I dismissed. "Anything else?"

"Unfortunately," Akina said, grimacing. "For the last week, I have been hearing rumors that the Institute was still kidnapping girls. I made it my personally quest to hunt down the seditious gossips and see them punished. Alas, I found that there was more merit to the whispers than I would have liked."

Akina gave stapled bundles of paper to each of us. I scanned the front page of the report. Mai Kimoto and Hiromi Harada. Grainy pictures printed in black and white revealed the culprits.

"I found those trouble makers in an abandoned warehouse. They had a victim chained to a rusted out pipe. From what I could see, they had tortured the girl to the edge of death."

"Not torture. Mimicry," Michiko noted. "From the collected tools, the probable motive was crude personality manipulation." The scientist quickly skimmed over the last page of the report before closing the bundle and pushing it aside. "Pointless. The implied technique is ineffective."

I scowled, raking the group with furious eyes.

"How the hell did this happen?" I demanded.

"I fear this is my fault, Director Saotome," Kamiko admitted. The psychiatrist held a page between her nails, as though it were something disgusting. "In order to ease their transition, I encouraged my patients to view their mental transformation as desirable. Given the volume of girls processed, it was likely that one or more would see their change so favorably that they would wish to share it with others."

"Both subjects are T09-3s," Michiko noted.

"Wonderful," Kamiko muttered. The woman sank into her chair, her fingers pounding out a rapid rhythm on the meeting room table. "We have to pull the entire line."

I glanced about the room in confusion. "T09-3s?"

"Emiko Watanabe is XT-09," Michiko explained. "Non-experimental derivatives are designated without the 'X'. In addition, variant branches were developed to address the failings of the original experiment. T09-3 was the third such branch."

Emiko Watanabe, my knight and secretary. The XT-09 experiment had altered Emiko, rendering her incapable of refusing orders given by an appropriate authority. Currently, the only such authority was me. That effectively that made Emiko my slave.

It was an unsolvable problem. No matter my will, Emiko could never be free. I did what I could. I encouraged her to treat my statements as requests. I made sure she looked after herself. But, the mystic fetters would not vanish. Emiko would live her life one command away from inescapable horror.

"The T09-3's tend to be... exuberant in their fanaticism," Kamiko added. Her hard, hazel eyes swept over the group. "No one is to see the perpetrators but me. Mai and Hiromi will be experiencing an emotional schism. Their natural inclination is to align with the Institute, but they are ideologically attached to Director Silvervine. If confronted improperly, suicide is probable."

I nodded my understanding. I approved of Kamiko's concern. Mai and Hiromi were as much victims as the girl they had tortured. The optimal solution was the one that preserved all parties. For now, we would aim for that. If the worst came?

A poisonous feeling curdled in my gut.

"Michiko, please provide a list of the T09-3s and similar derivatives. I will start scheduling interviews this evening. Akina, I will need a small security detachment. Try to find someone discrete. I do not want rumors running rampant."

"Our girls are insufferable gossips. Discrete is hard to come by. But I can promise competence," Akina replied. The idol turned to me, her expression grim. "Director Saotome, I request permission to arrest at my judgment."

"Granted," I answered instantly. "But I want names and excuses within forty-eight hours." I focused on Kamiko. "How can we solve this problem?"

"There is not much we can do, I'm afraid," Kamiko said. "We can use adjustment to resolve the internal conflict and to suppress the criminal impulse. However, personality constructs are prone to crystallization. Thought patterns tend become trapped within the mystic matrix, only to reemerge at later dates. Depending on the individual case, we may need to a schedule routine treatments."

My heart sank. Adjustment. The mere thought of it left me queazy. Repeated adjustment was even worse. And this was no cure. Adjustment merely treated the symptoms. To pursue this tactic was to screw those girls for the rest of their lives.

My brow wrinkled. I searched my brain for distant memories. "The XT-09 experiment involved merging the construct with tenki, right?"

"Affirmative," Michiko confirmed. "The T09 method seeds the personality construct within the tenki core. The tenki carryover process thereafter integrates the construct with the broader spiritual matrix."

I nodded slowly, piecing my thoughts together. "Can we rip it out?"

"Yes. Removal is possible," Michiko answered. "However, doing so would require amputating the infected substrate. Depending on the advancement of the crystallization process, the damage could prove extreme."

"And exactly how 'extreme' are we talking about?" I pressed.

Michiko tweaked her glasses and thought.

"It varies," she said after a while. "Loss of tenki is certain, as the tenki core would be removed. The spiritual damage would depend on the size of the core. Destruction of spiritual matter causes: reduced arcane potency, a weakened immune system, a decreased healing factor, and partial amnesia.

Advanced crystallization would introduce complications. If the spiritual substrate has become hardened, it will fail to heal properly. The fractured edges would serve as a vector for malicious parasites."

Malicious parasites? My expression twisted. I was not sure I wanted to know what parasites fed on a rotting soul. On the other hand, surgery was a permanent solution. The question therefore became, was the cure worse than the disease?

"So surgery or repeated adjustment," I said with distaste. "Do we have any other options?"

"For what it is worth, Saotome, I would rather die than lose tenki. An opinion that many of our girls will share," Akina chipped in. "Though, perhaps you are eager to shed your glamor?"

"Impossible," Michiko interrupted. Her steel blue eyes allowed no dissension. "Crystallization has already reached an extreme state. Removal would be fatal."

"This discussion is irrelevant. I am Director of the Pretty Princess Institute and I will uphold the standards expected of me," I declared with finality. My gaze swept over the group. "Now, the possibility of death brings up an important point. Can the T09s – all of them, not just the T09-3s – be cured without killing them?"

Michiko's head quirked to the side. The scientist fiddled with her glasses, searching the Institute's database.

"There are fifty-seven T09 derivatives. Thirty-three were created within the last year. Depending on individual variation, safe extraction should be possible for that subgroup."

"Thank you, Michiko," Kamiko said. Her fingers dribbled on the table. "We should sort the girls by surgical risk before proceeding further. The T09-3s, at the very least, should be treated. Adjustment is a limited solution. If a relapse occurs at an unexpected interval, this incident could be repeated."

"You know, maybe we ought to ask the girls how they feel before doing anything," I stated. "I, for one, would have appreciated a little input before someone starting hacking away at my soul."

A deathly silence followed my proclamation. Kamiko shifted nervously, a trace of guilt crossing her visage. Why did I see it now? Did she only care because I was Director? Or had Kamiko's feelings always been present, hidden beneath a veneer of professionalism?

"Forgive me for being blunt, but what purpose would that serve?" Akina asked, her silvery voice cutting through the thick atmosphere. "It is not as though any opinion we received would qualify as one given with a clear mind."

True. Akina's logic was twisted, but her point was valid. The Institute manipulated minds. Conditioning, adjustment, dollification, all were methods that altered the victim's perception. What good was the opinion of a modified girl?

"Every form of modification is different, Akina," Kamiko interrupted. "Not all of our alterations leave the patient unable to express an honest opinion. However, your concerns have merit in the case of the T09-2s and T09-3s. The nature of those constructs renders current views suspect." Kamiko's hawk-like eyes turned on me. "Director Saotome, this is a matter that must be decided quickly."

As Kamiko had indicated, waiting would make things worse. Spiritual crystallization advanced with the use of tenki. The surgical damage would increase proportionately. No matter how tempting it was to procrastinate, this was not a decision I could defer.

"I do not care if their wills are sound, we ask," I declared. "We will proceed with surgery on all volunteers, assuming Michiko deems it safe. As for the rest..." I trailed off. My hands tightened. Raw force failed to banish cruel reality. "Kamiko, give me an opinion on each. I will deliver the final verdict."

My decision was cold and crisp. I was the Institute's director. It was my duty to shoulder the guilt. And I would take it all. No matter how deep it piled, I would continue my forward march. Never stopping, never waving, never once looking back until the future of all my girls was secure.

"Michiko and I will provide a set of notes," Kamiko said. "However, that still leaves the question of Mai and Hiromi. If memory serves, they were early implants, which puts them outside the safety window. I would like permission to proceed with adjustment. For them, and for any other T09-3 not undergoing surgical removal."

"I will approve adjustment in the case of Mai and Hiromi," I relented. "But not for the others."

Kamiko's expression turned stern. "Director Saotome, allowing this problem to fester could-"

"Adjustment is a last resort!" I barked. I loomed over the table in thunderous rage. "We do not tweak minds because it is convenient, Kamiko. Nor do we adjust girls because something _might_ go wrong. There are things that are not to be done. Is that understood?"

Kamiko cringed from my wrath. Then she squared her shoulders and sounded her acknowledgement. "Understood, Director Saotome."

I released an angry breath and fell back into my chair. For me, adjustment would never lose its cruel edge. My change had been gut wrenching. It was the helplessness of it that had been the worst. Adjustment had left me with the sense that I could be altered against my will. I would not allow that travesty to be repeated unless it proved an unavoidable necessity.

I shook my head, casting aside the demons.

"Anything else?"

Kamiko took a moment to ready herself before resuming. "The Diet has appointed a Special Investigator."

"And what inspired this witch hunt?" Akina asked. Her violet eyes found Kamiko's. "Was I wrong to believe the Prime Minister was on our side?"

"He is," Kamiko answered. "However, the opposition party has been gaining strength. Rather than lose control of the situation entirely, the Prime Minster has elected to yield to their concerns while demanding favorable rules."

Politics. My familiarity was passing. But it did not take a genius to see that an investigation of the Institute could go dangerously wrong. The law was lacking when it came to magic. It would be all too easy to accuse the Institute of criminality.

Because the Institute was criminal.

"How big of a problem is this?" I asked.

"The Prime Minister is aware of the fragility of the situation. I doubt he would allow this measure if he had feared the worst," Kamiko said. Sharp eyes cut across all of us. "But please be careful with what you say. The investigator will not be on our side. And, Director Saotome, be polite."

"As though Saotome is capable of such a thing," Akina commented, her ruby lips twisting into a smile. "Rather than politeness, perhaps Saotome should lean on her thuggish nature. A few days in the dive chamber would certainly clear this weasel's head."

"I will take that under advisement," I drawled. I scanned the rest of my notes. Nothing else was on the agenda. "If that is the last of it, let us adjourn until this time tomorrow."

-oOo-

Evening had come.

The sun was on the distant horizon. The fading light poured through stained glass, casting the colors in an orangish tinge. My office was well lit, dozens of mystic candles shedding a warm glow. On my desk were the results of Kamiko's initial interviews. Late though it was, I had decided to troll through them before calling it a day.

I was already regretting it.

Akane Tendo. Chevalier. She had earned lauds for her ample spiritual strength, her exceptional combat ability, and her intuitive arcane understanding. She was marked in the Institute's master list as loyal, a state reached after a mere two adjustments. Akane's only negatives were her explosive anger and rampant jealousy.

She was also a carrier of the T09-3 personality construct.

Which was why her papers were laying before me.

According to Kamiko, Akane was quickly forming ideological attachments to the Institute. It would be a matter of months before her views bordered on fanatical.

The problem was the ideology Akane was attaching to. I was an emotional sore spot for Akane. To this day, she had refused to accept me as director. But the secondary personality imposed by the T09-3 implant would not allow Akane to turn her back on the Institute. As such, the resulting justifications were shaping her into a fanatical supporter of the dead Artemis Serenity Silvervine.

Per my instructions, Akane received a chance to volunteer. She had turned down the offer. Somewhat violently, if Kamiko's notes were accurate.

And now, the choice was mine.

With a stroke of my pen, Akane's ambitions would die. I had lived with the girl for two years. I knew how she fantasized of being both feminine and strong. The Institute was her dream come true. It was no surprise she had broken so fast.

Surgery would destroy her tenki. At the same time, Akane would lose untold years of memories. Her art would crippled. Her education would be stunted. A part of her soul would be torn away. In time, she would recover. Akane was young. All that was taken could be regained.

But sometimes, when people fall, they fail to get back up. Would Akane have the strength to overcome her loss? Or would she be crushed by it?

And the alternative was worse.

Kamiko's notes on the T09-3 personality implant were cold, clinical, and comprehensive. If left in place, the subject would inevitably attach to an ideology. The resulting devotion surpassed obsession. It became the meaning of their existence. In the face of that fanaticism, all morality was erased.

If Akane continued to despise me, if she dreamed that Artemis's reign was greater, her fate would be that Mai and Hiromi. An eternity of adjustment. Again and again, she would be dragged to the dive chamber, her heart full of grief, hate, and anger.

I could not imagine cycling between madness and lucidity. Compared to that horror, surgery seemed a blessing.

But the sickest part was the pointlessness of it. The T09-3 implant had been unnecessary. Akane was theirs. Her mind had been ripe for the plucking. An additional adjustment would have secured a lasting loyalty.

The T09-3 implant had been targeted at me.

It was simple, cruel, and efficient. Ukyou and Akane had been the Institute's bait. With them, Artemis could lure me from hiding. But that had not been enough for Artemis. So she had hatched a ruthless plan. The T09-3 implant had been inserted into Akane. Then Akane had been adjusted to guarantee she would always be theirs.

If I had been a day later, Ukyou would have followed in Akane's footsteps.

Not that reasons mattered. Artemis was dead. Her mess was mine. Akane's papers sat on my desk, the signature line lacking my name. I wished it would go away. It did not. The choice would continue to haunt me until I delivered my verdict.

But I could not move. My hand refused to touch the pen. I could not force the surgery. Nor could I release Akane from the looming threat.

In the end, I brushed Akane's papers aside. Next was an unknown name paired with an unknown face. An imaginary person. I relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief. Yes, it was horrible. But deciding the future of those I did not know was easier than deciding for those I did.

The door of my office creaked opened.

"Go home, Emiko." I did not look up. If I stopped now I was certain I would fail to start again. "Spend some time with your family. I will be fine on my own."

"If it is your lovely knight you are addressing, Ranma-kun, I believe she has already left," a soft voice answered.

Setsuna. Against my will, my eyes lifted. The green haired senshi was wearing a dark business suit and carrying a briefcase in her hand. It had been a while since I had seen the woman outside the guise of Pluto. But it did not throw me. Setsuna's visage had been burned into my mind.

"Who let you in?" I demanded, annoyance coloring my face.

In the last few weeks, my anger had waned. This meeting could have been cordial. But it irked me to see Setsuna drop by unannounced.

"I let myself in," Setsuna said. She offered a sly smile. "A privilege I have recently wrangled for myself."

Ah. Understanding dawned.

"You are the Diet's Special Investigator," I deduced. "I should have known. I would ask how you pulled it off, but I am guessing you called in another favor."

"And you would be right," Setsuna replied. The woman slid into my office, her long green hair swishing with the motion. "If I may offer a suggestion, perhaps you should curry a few yourself. I have found life dreadfully difficult when without them. Imagine, for instance, how hard it would be to get anything done if, say, a smug little investigator was poking his head into your business hoping to scrounge up a politically juicy truth."

Setsuna's smile was all too knowing. I smothered my irritation and glanced at the reports on my desk. With a sigh, I brushed them aside. I had to deal with Setsuna first. As Director, I was obliged to be polite. Kamiko would scold me otherwise.

"As you can see, I am quite busy," I said, gesturing toward the mountains of paperwork. "May I know why you are here? If it is Institute business, I request that you save it until tomorrow. If you need me to save the world, then find a different sucker. I have already paid my dues."

Setsuna laughed lightly. "Ah, Ranma-kun. There is no need to fear. As you say, you have played your part. There is no need for greater sacrifice. No. I am merely here to collect a few things for Artemis's grave."

My eyes narrowed with suspicion. As usual, Setsuna's icy visage yielded nothing.

"Artemis's grave?" I questioned.

"Yes," Setsuna answered. "It is an old Lunarian tradition to see off the dead with the memorials of their life."

I closed my eyes and sank into my chair. Artemis's grave. For a moment, I felt Katengecchi's leather grip pressing into my skin. The steel blade tugged. The edge met flesh. Head peeled from neck.

"I didn't think you were the type," I murmured.

Setsuna gazed at the wall, her garnet eyes growing distant. For a moment, a haze of emotion was upon her face. At first, I thought she was staring at the talwar mounted on the wall. Then, I realized that her eyes were aimed lower so that they focused on a plain sheet of steel. A shield. The iron plate was carved into the shape of a kite. Embossed on the surface was Artemis's coat of arms.

"Strange, is it not?" Setsuna said. "Artemis and I were bitter enemies. We had been plotting the other's demise for thousands of years. But, for all the wrong she had done, I have never been able to forget the shining knight of my childhood." Setsuna gave a huff of amusement. "How silly of me. Trying to see her off as the idol I cherished. That woman never existed. The monster was the truth. The hero the illusion."

"She was human," I declared. "No matter bad we get, that never changes."

I had hated Artemis. I had hated her like I had never hated anyone before. I did not regret killing her. Artemis had to die. She had earned her fate a hundred times. But I still felt guilt. More guilt than I did for the death of the archer. Perhaps because Artemis murder was more direct. More real.

"Take what you want," I said, finally. "But not Katengecchi. The sword stays with me."

"Of course," she murmured.

Setsuna set her briefcase on my mahogany desk. Then, with reverence, she approached the shield. The green haired woman lifted the iron plate. Despite the weight, she held it there, aloft, while her eyes sought the distant past.

"What was she like?" I asked. "Back then. Before it all went wrong."

"A difficult question, Ranma-kun," Setsuna answered. The woman placed the shield in her case. "For those of us born on Luna, Artemis was a hero. A living legend greater than Hercules. Why, when I was a young girl, we used to play a game called 'the knight and princess'. Oh, how we would fight over who got to be Artemis and Serenity."

Setsuna? As a child? Playing ordinary games? I laughed. The notion was absurd. Yet, I could glimpse it. The image was faint, but real.

"Let me guess," I said, raising a forestalling hand. "You played the knight in shining armor."

Setsuna offered a wry smile. "Oh no. I was quite the unpopular child. Always busy with my books. On rare occasions, when I was so lucky as to participate, I served as an evil, Terran minion. My duty was to kidnap the queen only to be slain by the invincible Artemis."

Setsuna paused. Her eyes were closed as she indulged in nostalgia.

"I loved her. I respected her more than Serenity herself. To me, and to many others, Artemis was the greatness of Luna.

"Of course, as I grew older, I came to see the hatred seething beneath her royal visage. But, even then, I found it all too easy to ignore her flaws. Luna was the beacon of civilization. The greatest kingdom in the history of mankind. Surely it was no crime to look down upon our Terran sisters? Ah. So naïve. The rot was hidden from my eyes."

"And then you became senshi," I finished. "With access to the Gates, I doubt your illusions lived long."

Two weeks as director and my hands were already covered in muck. White washed kingdoms only existed in fairy tales. The real world was a dirtier place.

"As you say, the evils of Luna were laid bare. Every secret was revealed. It was an unpleasant awakening."

Setsuna set a pair of glasses on my desk. From a crystal decanter she poured amber liquid, filling each with equal portions. The green haired woman swirled her liquor, drinking the volatile fumes.

"A 1858, Napoleon Empereur Vintage. Artemis always had a love for decadence." Setsuna sipped the brandy, rolling it around her tongue so as to experience every molecule of its flavor.

She resumed her story.

"After my appointment, there was never time to rest. My nights were spent staring into the gates. My days were filled by secret meetings. It was just the three of us: a queen, a hero, and a child.

"The debates raged for hours. Artemis called for force. She spoke of civilizing Terra. She framed conquest as kindness. She painted Luna as a savior that lift a savage world into glory. Yet, always hidden, was her hatred. When I listened close, I could hear her heart. Behind every word was the relentless drive to crush her enemies.

"Serenity differed. Rather than war, she plotted peace. She saw the grudge between our people as the source of our doom. So she sought to heal that wound through love and kindness. Trade agreements, foreign aid, and open borders were her weapons. The marriage between Terra's prince and her daughter, her crowning victory."

"Fat lot of good that did," I snorted. I lifted my snifter and took a curious sip. Kerosene scorched my throat. I coughed, choking on the potent alcohol.

Setsuna laughed at my plight. Then her eyes dulled once more. "Yes. It was all for naught. Though we did not know it then, what the gates had offered was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more we struggled against our fate, the deeper we were drawn into its web."

The green haired woman drained her cup. She set her glass on the my mahogany desk, her mind lost in the past. On her face was a rare display. Guilt, bitterness, and regret seeped through Setsuna's frozen mask.

"Often I wonder, who was the greater monster? Artemis, for seeking the death of Terra? Serenity, who refused to see her plot was doomed? I, who stood aside, unwilling to break the stalemate between titans?"

"But, what haunts me the most was the end. The cry of traitor still echoes in my ears." A dark smile floated across Setsuna's lips, an image of loathing. "You see, when Serenity knew our death had come, she begged me to save those that I could. Terran. Lunarian. It did not matter. They were all the same to her.

"So I did as I was told. When Luna's armada arrived too late to save our homeland, they turned upon Terra in revenge. They lit the world afire. The last of humanity would die. I had to save them. So I turned upon my people and murdered them. All of them."

With those final words, Setsuna ended her tale. Silence rang with their meaning. In that moment, I grasped what what drove her. Guilt. A ceaseless, all consuming guilt. Setsuna had tried to save her world and failed. Then she had bathed in the blood of her allies to salvage what was left.

In the quiet, Setsuna filled her snifter. The sound of pouring cognac was made loud by the lack of competition.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked. This was a story that was not to be heard by a stranger. "Shouldn't you have shared this with your princess?"

"Usagi?" Setsuna laughed into her cup. "Oh no. I could never tell her. She would forgive me."

Setsuna drained her glass a second time.

She did not want to be forgiven. Setsuna had shackled herself to her past. She used it to drive herself forward. Guilt may have crushed her soul, but it also gave her strength. Setsuna's resolve humbled me. The price she had paid to gain it was one I hoped never to share.

The darkness haunting me was great enough already.

"You know, don't you?" I stated. "You know that when I see a senshi, I see a sister."

A tiny smile crossed Setsuna's lips. It was arrogant and mocking. Something more may have lurked behind the veil, but I could not pierce it. Her true emotions remained hidden.

"Of course, Ranma-kun," Setsuna admitted. "Why else would I ask to name you informally when we had first met?"

"Manipulative bitch," I murmured.

My eyes traced the swirling tempest at the bottom of my cup. Setsuna had ripped out her heart in order to claim mine. I admired the boldness of it.

"We all have our flaws," she replied.

Setsuna offered the decanter. I lifted my snifter, allowing her to top my glass. Once my cup was full, Setsuna filled her own. Then she raised her drink in a toast.

"May mankind, free from tyranny, watch the last star die."

I clinked my glass against hers. "What was that?" I asked, snorting a laugh. "Your billion year plan?"

"More like ten," Setsuna said. "But what is an order of magnitude between friends?"

The silence dragged between us. I sipped then grimaced at the alcohol's taste. Setsuna stood and resumed her search. She approached the shelves at my back, roaming through the dust laden trinkets placed between the ancient books.

My gaze was drawn to the papers scattered before me. Akane's fate awaited.

"Does it get easier?"

"Yes," Setsuna said. "But it is never easy."

Not the answer I had been hoping for. But in a way, it was better. Dark decisions should leave scars. I did not want to become a woman who could ruin a life without feeling guilt, no matter how necessary it was.

I stared at Akane's name. What should I do? No. I knew what needed to be done. Akane's heart was strong. She would not break.

I raised my pen. In a swirl of ink, I signed my name. Objection overruled. Tomorrow, Akane's life as a magical girl ended.

I fell back into my chair, wondering if I had done the right thing.

Setsuna packed a handful trinkets into her case. Satisfied with what she had found, the woman sealed the container and turned to leave. As she moved toward the door, I called out.

"What's next?"

"Next?" Setsuna repeated. "That is up to you, Ranma-kun. As for me?" She paused. "I will do what I have always done. I will stand in the darkness, bringing flint to steel, so that there will always be sparks of hope with which to light the fires of freedom. Now, if there is nothing more, I must take my leave."

Silence. The door to my office opened. Setsuna stepped through. Then she was gone. For now. I would see her again in the morning.

My thoughts drifted.

_It is up to you_. Strange words. My future was set. Kamiko would mold me. My duty would shape me. I was chained to a role I did not desire.

Or was I?

My obligations as director were not eternal. In a few months, the chaos would settle. Years after that, my education would be complete. Each passing day yielded to me a grain of time. Artemis had lived for over a thousand years. My life had barely begun. What would I do with it? Who would I be?

Suddenly, I laughed. "Who would I be?" I said, speaking the words out loud.

I stood and spread my arms in answer. "Neaarrowwoom," I rumbled, running across the room. I pivoted, arcing through my office in a pair of pretend loops.

Who would I be? I would be Ranma Saotome. Nothing could change that. If I was thrown into the pits of hell, I would mock my enemies from the summit of heaven. If I was clapped in irons and chained by obligation, I would train against the weights and grow stronger. It did not matter how the odds were arranged. It did not matter if the whole world was my enemy.

I would be victorious.

Call it stubbornness. Call it stupidity. Call it conceit. It was my conviction. A promise I had made to myself. A vow forged by unrelenting grit. I would rise to the top. I would stand tall. Not because I was invincible, but because I refused to break.

So let Kamiko have her way. Let me be a princess. If I were to be reborn, so be it. I would not fear the change. I would embrace it. I would take it within myself and become greater than anyone could imagine.

That was the will of Ranma Saotome. That was the heart of who I was. That was fount of my unyielding strength. And through it, I would carve into the world one irrefutable fact.

I. Never. Lose.


End file.
